Pokémon Alola Journey VOL 1 (Extra 1): (I Choose You)
by 19jchoi
Summary: This happens on the same day when the Ketchum brothers start their journey... with Isamu starting with Eevee and Ash starting with Pikachu! As Ash and Pikachu bonds together, the two brothers meet Ho-Oh, as one of its feathers fall to the two. Promising each other to find Ho-Oh someday, they travel together with new friends to meet up with the Legendary Pokémon.
1. Two Brothers, Same Goal

**Pokémon: I Choose You!**

 **(I do not own Pokémon, only my OCs)**

 **Chapter 1: Two Brothers, Same Goal**

 **Isamu's POV**

What's... happening to me? I feel like I'm... drifting away... away from the suffering... Away from the pain that I felt from the large blows I've taken to protect him and... her...

My body felt numb, making me believe that I didn't have one anymore... I felt so weak... My spirit... It feels like it's fading away fast... Heh... I guess it's a good thing... I kept her safe inside her Pokéball.

My consciousness was fading as I managed to turn my head to see who was lying next to me. Wait... No, that can't be... No... Why? Why him, too? Why did he have to be taken down like I was...? That's not... what I wanted him to do...

I never... wanted him to disappear along with me... It... wasn't fair to him. He still needed to succeed in his dreams... His goals. Why did he have to be disappearing? Is this... really the end?

...

...

...No.

This... This can't end like this... Our friends need us... our partners need us... We can't... just disappear like this. I can't give up here. If I'm not giving up, then you're not planning on giving up too... Right, Ash?

 **A few months ago...**

 _"Yes! This battle of the Pokémon League Finals is really picking up steam!"_ The MC commented as the crowd cheered for the two Trainers that were competing against each other in a tournament, which was known to be... the Pokémon League.

Two Pokémon were fighting one another, so that one of them would end up as the victor, allowing their Trainers and themselves be recognized as one of the strongest Trainers in the entire world. And right now, those two Pokémon were Blastoise and a Gengar!

Blastoise was spinning fast to bash the evolved Ghost Type away as it was commanded by a girl, as Gengar leaped to evade the speedy attack.

 _"Gengar dodges it!"_ The MC commented as he took notice of the quick evasion. As Blastoise stopped his spin, he landed on the battlefield to face his Ghost Type opponent, while preparing his cannons.

Gengar however, saw this as an opportunity and attacked, as he was ordered by his Trainer. It shot some rays coming from his eyes to immobilize his opponent, which the crowd seemed to have noticed as they cheered even louder!

 _"And it's Night Shade!"_ The MC commented again, as the attack seemed to have made a decent amount of damage to the evolved Water Type. But the Water Type glared back before resisting the Night Shade attack.

 _"But Blastoise withstands it!... Wait! That was an Ice Beam!"_ The MC commented again as he and the crowd watched to see the evolved Water Type shooting the Ice Type attack onto Gengar, causing it to be frozen and unable to move anymore!

 _"And Gengar is frozen! What will the Trainer do now?"_ The MC asked as the Trainer of Gengar gritted his teeth before he returned the Ghost Type back to his Pokéball. Taking out another one, the Trainer sent his next Pokémon out to face Blastoise, with the MC commentating on it!

 _"Here goes the Pokéball! And the next Pokémon up is... Venusaur!"_ The MC commented as the next battle between Blastoise and Venusaur had begun. As he was sent out, the evolved Grass Type shot sharp leaves to deal some serious damage, with the MC recognizing it.

 _"It's Razor Leaf!"_ The MC called out as the super effective attack dealt some major damage. As it did so, Blastoise managed to withstand his weakness and blast his opponent away with his cannons shooting out water.

 _"But Blastoise's Hydro Pump scores a direct hit!"_ The MC commented as the attack knocked Venusaur away, until it recovered and countered back with a Giga Impact attack! Blastoise charged in with Skull Bash, causing the two big battlers to crash into each other.

The impacts from the powerful attacks caused both of them to skid back to their Trainers, allowing them to recover for a few seconds. And those seconds were enough to let Venusaur charge a Solarbeam attack, while Blastoise countered with another Hydro Pump!

 _"Wow! Venusaur's Solarbeam and Blastoise's Hydro Pump! What power!"_ The MC commented as they battle raged on, with the Pokémon League fans cheering even louder than ever.

* * *

My name... is Isamu Ketchum. I'm a eleven-year old resident of my hometown called Pallet Town. I live with my little brother named Ash, along with my mother named Delia. The three of us lived together ever since our father left home to start on his journey.

And to be honest... we never got word from him on what happened to him. But Mom always believed, that he was continuing on, making his dreams come true while meeting many Pokémon along the way. And to my belief, I believe the same way as she was.

With Dad gone, I had to take care of my brother, which I really didn't mind. He kinda... reminded me of myself when I was a five year old. This is him crying out loud in excitement as he and I were watching TV, where the Pokémon League Finals were being shown.

"Man! Oh wow... YES! Yeah! Get 'em!"

You see what I mean? That burning spirit... the limitless energy... That's what my little brother is like. Even though I'm just a year older than him, I couldn't blame him for being so hyper to see a tough Pokémon battle going on.

And that's what I loved about him. What can I say? He's my little brother after all.

The two of us were preparing to start our journey together tomorrow morning, where the two of us would get our very first Pokémon. Although, kids that are ten years old were allowed to head out on a journey, I decided to wait for another year.

That way, I can travel with my little brother in the entire Kanto region, like I had promised with him a few years ago when we heard about kids becoming Pokémon Trainers the day that they turn ten.

Once we head out to choose our Pokémon, it would be one of the three that Professor Oak was planning to give to new Trainers: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. I won't say who I wanted to pick, because that's only going to be shown when I meet the Professor with Ash.

For my little brother, he couldn't decide to choose which. It's like he wanted to take all of them, despite of his knowledge of being able to only take one.

I can understand that, since when one kid wants to choose two of his favorite Pokémon, but is only allowed to pick one... Then that kid would have trouble deciding to choose which is better. So, he decided to choose when we arrive at the Research Lab tomorrow.

By the time the battle was over, with the winner being crowned, the two of us were told to go to bed by Mom.

But, while I was sleeping... I heard the top bunk above me creaking, causing me to realize that Ash was having a good dream, involving the three starter Pokémon. In fact, he even spoke their names sleepily, sounding happy as he spoke.

"Bulbasaur... Charmander... Squirtle... Alright..." Ash said sleepily. The way he spoke made me frown as I got my foot off of my bed to see what Ash was doing. And to my shock, he was holding our alarm clock!?

"Here we go... Alright... I choose you!" Ash called out as he threw our clock that was the shape of a Pokéball.

 **CRASH!**

"What!?" I gasped as I watched Ash grin dreamily before he fell on his bed again. And with that, he was fast asleep once more, with that grin remaining on his face.

"Ash... How are you going to wake up if our alarm clock is broken...?" I groaned before I face palmed. That was the third alarm clock he broke while dreaming in his sleep!

But realizing I couldn't blame him for being excited for tomorrow, I didn't do anything else as I went back to sleep. What I didn't realize that tomorrow, our first day as Pokémon Trainers were about to go wild.

 **The next morning...**

"Ash Ketchum? Isamu Ketchum? Are the two of you still asleep? You'll both be late getting to Professor Oak's Lab!" Mom said as she opened our room door. As a mother, she usually sometimes wakes up in the morning when it's time for us to get up.

But Ash insisted that the two of us could wake up by ourselves together, allowing her to let us try and wake ourselves up. But with our mother speaking, the two of us groaned before we began to wake up, after hearing our mother speak about a... lab?

"Right... Professor Oak's Lab..." Ash groaned as I managed to open my eyes before my little brother did.

At remembering today, I quickly got out of his bed and gasped in disbelief.

"Gah! We overslept!?" I gasped as Ash woke up to yell out in surprise as well. But unfortunately, while trying to jump out of the top bunk, he slipped on the ladder and crashed onto... ME!?

"AH!" "ARGH!"

Both of us groaned in pain for the painful collision before we recovered, with Ash being the first to stand.

"B-Bro?! I'm sorry! Are you okay!?" Ash asked in concern, allowing me to get up and shake my head, trying to get the dizzy feeling off of my head. He may have caused us to crash, but I knew full well that he didn't mean it, causing me to forgive him easily.

"Y-Yeah... Try to watch before you try to jump, okay?" I groaned until I was pulled out of the room by Ash.

"Whoa!? Slow down, little bro! We're still in our pajamas!" I yelled out, trying to remind him of the clothes we were still wearing. His green and yellow pajamas and my black and white pajamas weren't the right outfits to start on our journey!

"We'll worry about our clothes later! We're already late! Mom, why didn't you wake us up!?" Ash complained as we ran out of our room, with my brother dragging me away to where the downstairs were. Mom seemed annoyed a little as she reminded Ash of what he said before.

"You said yourself when you were ten, you would wake up on your own! And I thought you would be the first to wake up so you can help your brother, Isamu?" Mom said, causing me to sigh. I did say that I was going to be the first to wake up, huh...?

Not only that, I remembered what Ash said to Mom on the day of his tenth birthday, with mine being the eleventh.

Looks like neither of us was able to accomplish the promise that we made to Mom...

But other than that, Ash was running too fast that he slipped, causing me to slip as well as I was still being dragged by him! The two of us crashed and tumbled down the stairs... which was very painful! He didn't have to run to get downstairs...

"OW! ARGH! Ugh..."

"AHHH! AGH! Ow..."

But the two of us recovered fast enough to leave the house and run for Professor Oak's Lab... I almost forgot that we were running in barefoot... not that Ash cared, especially with how panicked he was with the two of us being late for the start of our journey together.

By the time we arrived at the Professor's Lab, Ash had finally released my hand, allowing me to walk at my own pace. I watched as my little brother call to Professor Oak by running to him and saying his name.

"Hey! Professor Oak! We made it! We're here!" Ash gasped out loud as he painted for all the running he did. The same could be said for me I was catching my breath as the Kanto Professor turned to the two of us with a kind smile on his face.

"Ah... Hello, Ash. Isamu." Prof. Oak said as my little brother felt hopeful for the Pokémon he wanted to pick.

"So... Professor Oak! Where's... my Pokémon!?" Ash gasped as he kept on catching his breathing. I had to pat him on the back to allow himself to calm himself down before he took a deep breath. By the time Ash did that, Prof. Oak smiled at the two of us, as if he suddenly realized something.

"Ah... So you two are the last of the five young ones starting on their journeys today!" Prof. Oak said, causing me to frown.

Wait... Last of the five young ones? But, if we were the last ones, then that could only mean...

I shook my head, taking that thought out of my mind.

No... I couldn't get myself to think negatively... it would only make things harder for me than it already had! I have to believe that there's still Pokémon left for Ash to take... Someone that would be good friends with him as our journey starts when we leave Pallet Town.

As we finally managed to catch our breath, the Kanto Professor took us inside his Lab as Ash began to explain his choice of who he decided to pick as his partner.

"I thought about it a lot and it took me a really long time, but I finally decided! I'm gonna choose Squirtle!" Ash declared, choosing the Water Type starter for his partner. I frowned, before looking at the Kanto Professor.

He gave a frown too, causing me to believe that my fears were starting to come true.

"I'm afraid Squirtle was chosen by a Trainer who wasn't late!" Prof. Oak said, causing Ash to groan, now hearing that the one he chose first was taken away by someone else. I didn't say anything, as I believed that I would only make him feel more depressed.

But as he rose his head up, he made his second choice, possibly to be make sure that if someone took the one he was going to choose first, then his second choice would be his partner.

"I've got no one to blame but myself! Okay... Then, I'll choose Bulbasaur!" Ash said as I turned to the Professor once more, before noticing the apologetic look he was giving to my brother. I narrowed my eyes, realizing on what he was going to say.

"Professor... Don't tell me that..." I started to say as the Kanto Professor nodded sadly, before giving Ash a sheepish look.

"Yes, Isamu... I'm afraid I know what you're guessing. Bulbasaur went with a Trainer who also got here on time." Professor Oak explained, causing Ash to feel depressed once again.

"Aw... Mm! Alright! I mean, I really want Charmander!" Ash cried out, making his third choice before I sighed. With Bulbasaur and Squirtle taken already, what chance was there that Charmander wasn't taken away by the third Trainer?

"Ash... I hate to say this, but with both Squirtle and Bulbasaur gone, there's a chance that the third Trainer might've taken Charmander with him... Someone who wasn't late like we were..." I said, causing my little brother to widen his eyes in shock, with the Professor confirming my guess.

"Yes, indeed. Being a second late for a train or being late for a Pokémon can be life-changing." Professor Oak said, causing Ash to slump in despair before he made a question to the Kanto Professor.

"Does that mean... that both Isamu and I go on our journey without a Pokémon?" Ash asked as I narrowed my eyes. To be honest, I do get a Pokémon... It's just that, it's not one of the three starter Pokémon I was aiming to choose, but it's the one that I already made friends with.

"Well... There is another, but..." Professor Oak started to say until Ash quickly made up his mind.

"Huh!? I'll take it!" Ash cried out, causing the Professor to frown at the quick answer. I noticed the frown, causing me to think that the Professor didn't know whether to comply to Ash's request or not.

"I think that I should warn you that there is a problem with this last one." Professor Oak said. Anyone would've reconsidered on this choice, but not Ash. He was willing to go through this, no matter what kinds of problem there was.

"So what!? Since I was late, then I've got a problem with me, too!" Ash cried out, leaving the Professor amused as he looked up to see where Ash's Pokémon could be. At seeing where he was looking at, both Ash and I looked up to see a yellow tail sticking up from the railing upstairs!

At seeing the tail, Ash grinned as he made a run for the Pokémon that was upstairs, leaving me to watch him go after his new friend or should I say, Pokémon?

"Awesome! Ha ha! Awesome! Alright, then you're my Pokémon!" Ash cried our happily as he made a dash upstairs, until he slipped! The little brother of mine tumbled down, causing me to wince as I sighed, seeing how his energy was making him reckless.

"Ash, try to be careful. And don't run so much! That's how we got bumps and small bruises while getting here, remember?" I called out to him, causing Ash to nod in understanding, despite the excitement he was currently showing on his face.

"Sorry, bro! I'm just so glad to meet my Pokémon!" Ash called as he made another dash up until something ran under his legs, much to his surprise. As he tried to catch up with the dashing Pokémon, he slipped once again, causing him to tumble down the stairs again.

Face palming to myself, I gave a sheepish smile to my little brother as I watched the yellow Pokémon hiding behind the Professor's leg. This Pokémon... I recognized it. It was a Pikachu! An Electric Type Pokemon that can be a bit difficult to handle for starting Trainers.

At seeing Ash get hurt by his fall, the Pikachu laughed, as if he was amused with the stunt my brother tried to pull as the Professor explained on what the Electric Type was.

"This Pokémon is called Pikachu." Prof. Oak explained, amazing Ash as he crept over it to give it a warm embrace.

"Ah... It's so cute! Looks like I got the best one!" Ash said happily, leaving the Kanto Professor amused once more as he watched Ash hold onto his new Electric Type partner.

"You'll see..." Prof. Oak said, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, he'll see, Professor?" I asked as the Kanto Professor gave a sheepish smile. But before he could respond to my question, my little brother danced around while holding Pikachu in his hands, ecstatic of meeting his first Pokémon.

"Oh yeah... Hi, Pikachu! My name is Ash Ketchum! You and I are gonna be best friends!" Ash cried out happily. But as I took a closer look on the Mouse Pokémon, he didn't seem so interested on being a friend as he gave a glare to my little bro, with his red cheeks sparking!

I widened my eyes in shock while Ash blinked in confusion.

"Ash, put Pikachu down! He's going to-" I tried to say, only for my warning to come too late! The Mouse Pokémon shocked him, causing him to yell in pain as he felt the electricity coursing through his body as I watched with a sweat drop.

"It's the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Pikachu can be rather shy... but quite electrifying when touched by humans." Prof. Oak said as Ash became stiff from the shock he had taken just now.

"Hey... Little bro, you feeling alright?" I asked as Ash shook his head, trying to clear the damage from his head as he made a determined expression before turning to face me.

"Yeah, of course! I can take a little zap!" Ash declared, leaving me amused this time as I folded my arms. I gave a glance to the Professor, as if trying to tell him that Ash wouldn't change his mind now, especially with the burning determination he was giving off.

At seeing my expression, Professor Oak sighed before he gave a Pokéball with the electric symbol to my brother, making Ash the Trainer of this "electrifying" Pokémon.

"Alright then... If that's how you feel, then this is Pikachu's Pokéball." Prof. Oak said, as he handed the ball to Ash, making him feel thankful as he thanked the Kanto Professor.

"Ah... Thanks a lot, Professor!" Ash said thankfully until he realized that I was missing something.

"But, hold on... Big bro, what are you going to do? I forgot that there aren't any Pokémon left for you!" Ash said, causing me to blink before I smiled softly at my brother. I shook my head before turning to an area where any small Pokémon could hide in, which was under the stairs.

"You can come out now. There's nothing to be afraid of." I said, catching Ash's attention as he turned to where I was looking at. Before he could ask, a small brown fox-like Pokemon slowly came out of from hiding as she turned to where I was standing.

At seeing me, the Pokémon let out a happy cry before she ran to me and jumped into my arms. I embraced the little one as I laughed to see how happy she seemed to see me again.

"It's good to see you again, Eevee." I said as Eevee gave a cute smile.

"Eevee! Eev!" Eevee said as Ash was amazed to see a Pokémon he's never seen before.

"Whoa... Isamu? Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked as I let Eevee ride on my left shoulder, much to her content as I explained. "This, little bro... is Eevee. I became friends with the little one several weeks ago when she was hurt by some other Pokémon." I explained.

Ash widened his eyes before he smiled at the Evolution Pokémon as he tried to greet my new partner.

"Hey, Eevee! Nice to meet you! I'm Ash!" Ash cried out happily, only for Eevee to blink before she turned her head away slowly, causing him to be confused.

"Huh...? Did I say something wrong?" Ash asked as I shook my head, before I tried to explain.

"You didn't do anything wrong, little bro. Eevee is the kind of Pokémon that's a bit shy, and gets timid when she sees a new person or Pokémon around, such as you." I explained, causing Ash to frown, before he smiled in understanding.

"Ash? Isamu?" Mom called out, catching all of our attention. Prof. Oak, Ash, and I all turned to see Mom walking towards me and Ash as she seemed to be holding some clothes in her arms.

"Remember, the two of you were going to head out on your journey together after getting your Pokémon! For goodness sake..." Mom said with a smile, causing me to smile back apologetically.

"Sorry, Mom... Things just got crazier today..." I said sheepishly, causing Ash to chuckle along with myself, as Eevee and Pikachu just stared at the two of us laughing together lightly, like what good brothers would always do.

 **Later...**

Soon, the two of us were in our outdoor outfits, allowing us to look more prepared for our journey together. While Ash wore his outfit, I wore a gray, thin jacket, over my black shirt. My black fingerless gloves were put on, as well as my light-blue jeans.

While our outfits were worn, our mother gave us our backpack, with Ash wearing the turquoise-like backpack with a yellow symbol. I wore the black backpack with a white Pokéball symbol at the middle of it. While we were having it on, our mother explained of what she put in there.

"Here... I packed shirts, underwears, your toothbrushes, some towels and sleeping bags for the two of you!" Mom said as we nodded to our mother. I laid out my arm for Eevee to jump on, which she did so, climbing onto my shoulder in the process.

But for Ash however, this didn't result the same for him as he tried to make friends with Pikachu right away.

"Right... Let's go, Pikachu!" Ash called out, only to get a scoff from the Mouse Pokémon. This confused Ash and Mom, while leaving me a bit annoyed. That attitude of it is going to bring troible to not just Ash, but to itself as well if things were to get serious along the way.

"Don't Pokémon usually go into their Pokéballs?" Mom said as she noticed both Pikachu and Eevee still out as I shook my head with a smile, before I stroked Eevee's right ear, much to her content as she smiled with the affection I was showing her.

"Eevee may have a Pokéball, but she likes to stay out, because she wants to stay out with me. Isn't that right, girl?" I asked, causing Eevee to nod happily before she nuzzled my cheek, causing me to smile back at the little one.

"I think Pikachu likes to go in. Come on, Pikachu. Get in!" Ash said as he showed the Electric Type's Pokéball to him, only to be rejected once again. I watched as Ash blinked in confusion before he tried to be more demanding to his starter Pokémon.

"Mm... Get in your Pokéball!" Ash snapped, only to have the ball slapped back right onto his face! I winced at that, realizing on how painful it looked, considering the pained expression my brother was giving out. Eevee also seemed to feel bad as she reacted the same way as I did.

"Oh, right... This Pikachu hates getting into any sort of Pokéball..." Prof. Oak explained, causing me to glare at him for explaining this a bit late. I only shook my head though, as I knew that any person can forget to add an extra detail of what Pokémon would like or don't like.

Ash seemed to understand a little, until he tried to throw the ball to his Electric Type.

"Oh, it does...? Hm... Now, get in." Ash said as he tossed the ball, only for it to be hit back by Pikachu's tail! For Mom, Prof. Oak, and I, it seemed to be a game of catch, despite the fact that Pikachu didn't seem to like Ash at all.

With the ball being deflected several times, another deflection hit Ash's face, causing him to wince in pain again. That Pikachu laughed at as I sighed. Eevee didn't seem to understand Pikachu's behavior as she just kept watching with confusion on her face.

As for Mom, she didn't seem to understand the situation between the two as she thought that the two of them were playing catch with each other, believing that both Ash and Pikachu were friends already.

"Wow! If you're playing catch, then you're good friends already!" Mom said happily, causing both me and Ash to sweat drop before he tried to admit that they were.

"Yeah, you're right! We're best friends already, right?" Ash asked as he held Pikachu up in the air again. At seeing him do that, both Professor Oak and I widned our eyes, as we both realized on what's about to happen next between the two.

 **ZAP!**

"AHHHHHHH!"

Yep... Electrifiying, like the Professor said. That's what Mom, Eevee, Ash, Prof. Oak, and I had felt when the Electric Type's electricity shocked all of us in the lab, causing all of us to be stiff before we could all recover.

And soon, the two of us were out on the road, heading for Route 1. Unfortunately, with the behavior Pikachu was giving to us, Ash had the idea to tie a rope to Pikachu, so he could take Pikachu with him as the Mouse Pokémon didn't want to go with Ash.

To be honest, I felt bad for the Electric Type, as he didn't deserved to be dragged like a pet. But with the way things are, this seems to be the only option little bro had as he didn't seem to like what he was doing either. We stopped for a moment, allowing Ash to try and get along with his starter.

"Ugh... Pikachu, are you going to be like this the whole way?" Ash asked, only to be scoffed at from his Electric Type partner.

"I'm guessing that's a yes, considering the tone and expression he's giving off." I said bitterly, as Eevee just watched with pity. Ash just sighed, before he walked over to his partner, trying to understand for the grouchy feeling Pikachu was giving to him.

"Is it because you don't like me?" Ash asked, earning a nod from the Mouse Pokémon.

"If that's the case, then why don't you like Ash?" I asked, trying to understand as well.

"Eevee vee?" Eevee seemed to question this as she wanted to know as well. But all we got was another scoff, signaling that he didn't want to let us know why that is. I stood back up, allowing my little bro to try and bond with Pikachu again as he tried to befriend him.

"Well, I like you a lot! And no matter what, I want to be your friend. So, we're all done with this!" Ash said as he undid the rope that was tied to the Electric Type. Once he made his Mouse Pokémon comfortable, he tried to make peace with the stubborn one with a smile.

"Now... Put 'er there!" Ash said, offering a finger. But stubborn as always, then Electric Type turned away as I scratched the back of my head. Ash only smiled sheepishly, realizing on how stubborn it was for being unfriendly to him.

"You're a handful..." Ash said I folded my arms, before I made my comment on the "bond" that was happening between my little bro and Pikachu right now.

"With the way things are going, I think it's going to be a tough journey before you become a Pokémon Master, Ash." I said sternly, causing little bro to frown before he seemed to agree.

"Guess you're right..." Ash said. But before anyone else could say something, the four of us all heard a chirp besides us, as we all turned to see what was there. Ash was the first to see as he was excited to see a new Pokémon already in the wild.

"Hey... A Pidgey! That's awesome! Yes!" Ash exclaimed as he ran to it before taking out a Pokéball. Before I could speak, Ash was already onto trying to catch it as he prepared to throw his first empty Pokéball.

"Catching that Pidgey is my first step on becoming a Pokémon Master! Go, Pokéball!" Ash called out as I gave out a waning to little bro.

"Wait, Ash! You won't be able to catch it now!" I cried out, only to be too late once again as the ball sucked in the Tiny Bird Pokémon. As the ball closed, it began to shake several times as Ash thought the capture was a success.

"I caught it!" Ash cried out happily. But that happy time was broken immediately when the ball broke open, releasing the Pidgey that was captured! As Ash stared at the Pidgey in disbelief, the Mouse Pokémon began to laugh, believing that little bro's failure was funny.

"Ash, in order to capture and befriend a Pokémon, you need to battle it first before you capture it. Although, that means you would have to work with Pikachu in order to make friends with that Pidgey over there." I explained, allowing little bro to understand as he turned to Pikachu.

"I think I can manage! Pikachu, go for it!" Ash commanded, only to be ignored once more as Pikachu didn't feel like helping, much to little bro's dismay as he tried to plead with the Electric Type.

"Oh, come on... Aren't you going to help?" Ash asked pleadingly. But with the response he got, I could easily take a guess when Pikachu shook his head in refusal.

"I'm taking that as a no." I said bitterly. At the Electric Type's refusal to cooperate, Ash grumbled in annoyance before he picked up a rock to throw as he began to get fed up with the attitude Pikachu was giving off.

"Fine then, I'll do it myself!" Ash snapped as he began to throw the rock, much to my shock and dismay.

"No! Ash, wait!" But I was ignored this time as little bro threw the rock, which missed the Pidgey! But in result, it hit something else instead! Both Eevee and I winced, believing that whoever was there was hurt as the figure of a Pokémon rose his head up angrily.

Both Ash and I widened our eyes as we recognized on what that Flying Type Pokémon was.

"It's a Spearow!" Ash gasped as he fell on the ground. Eevee got ready to fight back as I stood guard, preparing in case if Spearow was planning to attack. But as Pikachu was laughing for the bump that Spearow had got on his head, the Flying Type glared at the Mouse Pokémon.

It let out a battle cry before it shot towards Pikachu, much to our surprise. But as Spearow tried to attack, it missed! This gave Pikachu the chance to counterstrike as he shot a Thunderbolt to the Flying Type! As it made a hurt, Spearow angrily flew to a tree, making a loud cry.

As a result... This was when things got from bad to worse! A huge flock of Spearow flew out of the trees, forming a large mass as they flew towards the four of us! I gritted my teeth as I turned to both Ash and Pikachu, realizing that fighting would be pointless.

"Dammit! Move, now!" I yelled, pushing Ash to move while Eevee did the same for Pikachu. As of that, the four of us all began to run. But while we were doing so, our efforts to escape proved to be futile as the giant flock were already catching up to us!

It passed Eevee, Ash, and me for some reason...

Wait, the leader thought that Pikachu had thrown the rock at him. And with a Thunderbolt to add, this would mean... the flock was after Pikachu! My thoughts were correct as Pikachu began to be attacked by several Spearows!

Immediately he began to take multiple damage as I called out to Eevee to attack.

"No! Eevee, use Hidden Power!" I called out. At my order, Eevee shot glowing orbs at some of the Spearows attacking Pikachu while I bat some of them away. Ash did the most as he tried to make the Spearows blame him instead!

"Knock it off! I'm the one who threw the rock! You should be attacking me!" Ash snapped as he managed to get the Spearows out of the way. While Ash tried to pick Pikachu up, I batted some others away, causing me to be pecked at in the process!

Eevee also became a target when she knocked some others with Hidden Power, causing her to be pecked at as well! With the pain the four of us were feeling, with Pikachu being wounded the most, we all began to keep running while Ash kept Pikachu in his arms.

But while we were running, the pecking continued on until the two of us and a Eevee noticed a cliff up ahead with a river down below.

"Tch... Got no choice! Ash, jump!" I cried out, grabbing onto Ash's left hand. He didn't make any hesitation or complaints as the two of us jumped into the water, with Eevee following close behind. As we splashed into the water, the flock had stopped following us.

Since they couldn't fight while underwater, it was a perfect chance to us to ditch them as the currents carried us along the way. We narrowly managed to evade a Gyarados that was swimming right at us! As we managed to get far, I managed to get out of the water, while dragging Ash out, too.

With the two of us recovering, Ash looked down at his now wet and weak Electric Type. I looked down to see Eevee panting heavily as well. Oh no... It must be due to the rough current... and she wasn't used to swimming in tough rivers as well.

"Pikachu, are you okay...?" Ash asked, as Pikachu could only breathe heavily. I held onto Eevee in concern as she seemed to be having trouble of catching breath.

"Eevee, what about you?" I asked, causing Eevee to shake the water off of her fear before she nodded reluctantly. With the expression she was giving off, she was far from okay. At least... she wasn't in a worse condition than Pikachu was.

But while we were recovering, the two of us heard angry chirps as I realized on what it was.

"They found us already!? Let's move!" I snapped as I held Eevee in my left arm, before I grabbed onto Ash's left hand with my right hand. With that done, the chase continued on as we tried to run faster in order to escape the flock and protect our starters at the same time.

But it was at that time when rain clouds began to cover the sun, causing small droplets of rain to pour down. This didn't stop us, however, from having the determination to keep our Pokémon safe from the angry flock as they needed help more than we do.

"Pikachu! You're gonna be just fine! Hang in there!" Ash pleaded as Pikachu weakly looked up at both me and Ash.

Unfortunately, the flock caught up onto us once more, as the flock continued to peck both me and Ash as we tried to keep our partners safe from any further damage. But in doing so, because of the flock blinding us, we couldn't see where we were going!

Ahead was a small cliff as we jumped to keep running. But with the ground being slippery, we slipped before we jumped, causing the both of us to fall on the wet ground, hard. At the impact, both Eevee and Pikachu were forced out of our arms as they skidded on the muddy ground.

"Pikachu!?"

"Eevee!"

Little bro and I managed to run over to our partners as we checked on how they were doing. While Eevee managed to weakly stand on her feet, Pikachu couldn't as Ash looked like he was about to cry. For me, I gritted my teeth in both anger and despair.

This... This can't end like this! I clenched my fists on the muddy ground as I turned to see the Spearow flock circling around us. It's as if, they were mocking us and preparing to finish us off once they feel like it. It's pathetic...

"No, Pikachu...! This can't be happening, right?!" Ash said, his tone cracking as I turned to see little bro feeling upset for what's happening. At seeing on how outnumbered we were, I noticed Ash taking out Pikachu's Pokéball before he placed it in front of his Electric Type partner.

It was then, I realized on what he was trying to do. Understanding the stupid and risky chance Ash was planning to take, I took out Eevee's Pokéball and placed it in front of her, much to her confusion as she looked at me worriedly.

"Eevee... I know that you don like staying in the Pokéball much, but I want you to go inside where you can be safe. If the Spearow can't find you, then they'll give up on trying to hurt you. That's what I believe." I said weakly, causing Eevee to realize on what I was saying.

"Eev!? Eevee!? Eevee!" Eevee cried out as tears began to well in her eyes. I gave a forced smile to the little fox as Ash tried to get Pikachu inside his Pokéball as well.

"Pikachu, you too... You've got to go inside! I know you can't stand going in your Pokéball, but still! In there, you'll be protected! So, come on... Get inside, please? Then, leave the rest to me! I'll take care of this!" Ash said bravely.

Before he could stand however, I grabbed onto his arm firmly, catching little bro by surprise as he turned to me.

"Big bro...?" Ash could only say as I glared at my brother for trying to face this alone.

"If you think I'm going to let you handle them alone, that's where you're wrong, Ash Ketchum. You're my little brother... If you intend on facing dangerous stuff, then you have to let me in this... As a big brother." I said firmly, catching little bro by surprise.

Then, with a weak smile, little bro nodded to me before we stood to face our enemies together. With Ash twisting his cap backwards and with me standing besides him, we held our arms up, like we were walls in order to protect both Eevee and Pikachu.

"Alright, you! I don't think you know who you're dealing with, but... I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Ash cried out.

"And I'm Isamu Ketchum from Pallet Town! And the two of us..." I started to say, allowing Ash to finish my words.

"...are going to become the world's greatest Pokémon Masters!" Ash cried out.

"Mess with the Ketchum brothers and you're all going to lose!" I continued on.

"We're going to catch all of you Pokémon at once! Just watch!" Ash finished as the two of us kept standing together. As we made our suicidal challenge to the angry flock, they responded angrily as they all prepared to attack the two of us at once!

"Pikachu, you've got to get inside your Pokéball now!" Ash ordered as Pikachu and Eevee watched us.

"That goes for you, Eevee! Come on! That's an order!" I cried out seriously.

As we made our orders, we turned back to the Spearows, demanding them to give all they've got.

"Alright, Spearows! Come on! Hit us everything we've got! We won't be satisfied until you show us all your strength!" The two of us yelled out together as we braced ourselves for the tremendous of pain we would feel soon.

As the flock flew up before they dove down to strike at us, that's when time slowed down. Everything continued on slowly. While we were standing still as walls, we felt something climbing onto our bodies as we widened our eyes to see that... it was both Pikachu and Eevee!

They jumped up together, facing the Spearows together. As Pikachu charged up his power with his cheeks, he shot the most powerful Thunderbolt to blast many of the Spearows away!

For Eevee, I... don't know what she did really. She suddenly began to glow bright, with an aura surrounding her body. It's as if, she was preparing to summon up some powerful energy to drive the entire flock away, with the help of Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

As she let out a battle cry with the light shining brightly from her body, I noticed eight pairs of eyes looking down at my little fox. Eight forms suddenly appeared as I recognized some of those Pokémon, but not the others.

They looked down at her, as if they were pooling their energy into Eevee's body, before she touched Pikachu's body with her paws to aid the Electric Type's power with Thunderbolt! As the two released their power together, it created a huge explosion!

It not just blew the entire flock away, but it blew us away as well, causing us to skid on the ground before we fell unconscious for a moment. As I was blown back, I didn't know what to say, or what to think of Eevee now.

All I could say on my mind was, she had already grown to be a strong Eevee in a short amount of time.

 **Later...**

By the time I managed to open my eyes and take back my consciousness, I noticed Eevee staring back at me while lying on the wet ground. She gave a weak, happy cry and a smile as I smiled back at her, feeling both proud and happy for my little fox.

"Eevee... You little..." I said weakly before I pulled her into my arms. Eevee gave a teary smile before she gave a small lick on my cheek of affection as I rubbed her head to show my affection back.

"Are you okay, Eevee?" I asked softly, causing Eevee to nod without hesitation.

"That's such a relief..." I said silently as I rubbed her head again. But then, I suddenly remembered Ash, as I turned to see my little bro pulling a Pikachu into his arms. He was... smiling? Could this mean that Pikachu had finally accepted Ash as a friend and a true Trainer?

"Pikachu... You'll stay? You mean it?" Ash asked happily. At being licked at by the cheek and nuzzled, little bro smiled happily before he hugged his partner, their bond reaching to a whole new level.

I managed to stand up with Eevee on my shoulder as I shakily walked over to my brother. I offered a hand, which he accepted as I brought him up to confront him as I gave him a knowing smile.

"That was crazy, Ash... For you to start something like that..." I said to him jokingly, causing little bro to grin sheepishly back.

"Heh heh... Speak for yourself, big bro..." Ash said as the two of us began to laugh together again, with Eevee and Pikachu joining in together. But while we were having fun, the four of us all heard a loud cry coming from up the sky.

The cry caught our attention as we all looked up to see... a phoenix-like Pokémon? It looked so familiar to me for some reason... I didn't know why, but... Wait... Could that Pokémon be...?

"Ho-Oh...?" I whispered in surprise, catching Ash, Eevee, and Pikachu's attention.

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 2: Hunt for Entei! Enter Verity!**

 **Chapter 3: Charmander's Hope! Sorrel's Help**

 **Chapter 4: Cross' Conviction! Ash's Despair!?**

 **Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For**

 **Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash and Isamu starts on their journey

\- Ash meets Pikachu as his partner

\- Isamu meet Eevee as his partner

\- Ash bonds with Pikachu

\- Isamu and Ash sees Ho-Oh for the first time


	2. Hunt for Entei! Enter Verity!

**Chapter 2: Hunt for Entei! Enter Verity!**

 **Isamu's POV**

Last chapter, Ash and I were watching the Pokémon League Finals on TV in our room. For me, I watched some of the battles many times when I was younger, so I wasn't really that interested unlike how little bro was.

But as the battle went on, it made my little brother even more excited to start his journey, along with mine.

I was currently eleven years old, which meant that I was supposed to become a Trainer a year ago, until I decided to stay in Pallet Town, so I could fulfill the promise I made to Ash by traveling with him, so we could accomplish our dreams together.

Unfortunately, because Ash broke the alarm clock as I saw last night, we ended up waking up late, making us the last of the five to reach Prof. Oak to get our Pokémon. I didn't have any problem since I already made a decision on who to make my partner.

But for Ash, he ended up getting stuck with a stubborn Pikachu that didn't like him already. Because of that, once we got started on our journey, little bro decided to try and bond with the little guy, while I was already close to my little friend, Eevee.

But as we were getting started on Route 1, Ash accidentally hit a Spearow with a rock, causing it to summon its flock and chase after us! It ended up hurting both Pikachu and Eevee, causing the two of us to try and escape on our own.

It began raining when we soon realized that we were cornered. With that in mind, we decided to risk our lives for both Pikachu and Eevee by taking on the Spearow flock on our own. That was, until the two of them risked their own lives by unleashing their powers to the whole Spearow flock!

I wasn't amused, but I was more relieved and confused. I know that Pikachu used a Thunderbolt, but what did Eevee use? It wasn't a move that I know of, so it must've had something to do with my little fox friend.

Nevertheless, with the rain calming down, Ash and Pikachu suddenly became best friends because of that mayhem, while the bond between Eevee and I grew. While the four of us were being relieved for being safe, we heard a loud cry coming from a Pokémon.

And to all of our surprise... It was the Legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh.

But why is it here all of a sudden? Did it see us try and protect our Pokémon when we were the ones getting protected instead?

 **End POV**

* * *

The Ketchum brothers and their two partners all turned in surprise to see Ho-Oh flying across the sky, looking majestic as ever. As the brothers watched Ho-Oh fly on in the sky, they didn't notice a rainbow that was formed by the Legendary Pokémon.

"That's Ho-Oh...?" Ash said as he stood besides his brother. Isamu nodded slowly to confirm his little brother's question as they kept watch on the Legendary Pokémon.

But as they kept watching with Pikachu and Eevee on their shoulders, Isamu blinked, noticing something falling towards both him and Ash. Ash noticed it too as he used his hands to catch it.

What fell onto his hands was... a feather. A feather that looked beautiful, with multiple colors that seemed to match Ho-Oh's body. "What's this, big bro?" Ash asked as Isamu narrowed his eyes, before he looked back to see Ho-Oh disappearing out of his sight.

"I believe... Ho-Oh gave us a gift. This feather, that is..." Isamu said as he gently took the colorful feather from his little brother's hands to inspect it while Ash watched Ho-Oh disappearing out of sight. By the time Ho-Oh was gone, the rainbow remained bright in the sky.

It was for a few moments that both Ash and Isamu remained silent, while keeping watch to where the Legendary Pokémon had disappeared off to. But then, a small smile began to form on the little brother's mouth as he turned to his Electric Type, Eevee, and his elder brother.

"Big bro? Pikachu? And Eevee? Someday, we'll all meet that Pokémon again." Ash said softly, earning a nod from both Pikachu and Eevee. Isamu on the other hand, smiled with the words Ash made before he nodded to him as well.

"You're right. And while we're at it, let's discover the mystery of the feather that Ho-Oh gave us. I'm sure there's a good reason why Ho-Oh gave us this feather. It's like... I don't know, he must've seen what we did before." Isamu said, before he looked up.

"You mean... When we tried to save Pikachu and Eevee, until they saved us instead?" Ash asked, causing the two starters to smile together as the elder Ketchum brother shrugged.

"I don't know... It could be that. Or something else." Isamu said as he looked at the colorful feather he held in his left hand. It was at that time when Ash walked over to his brother, with another promise in his mind.

"Big bro? Let's find Ho-Oh together. We'll stay together no matter what happens. Right?" Ash asked softly. Isamu blinked, before he smiled. Affectionately, he ruffled Ash's hair before he agreed to make the promise a reality.

"Of course, little bro. We're the Ketchum brothers. There's nothing that we can't do together." Isamu said, causing Ash to grin back as the two brothers chuckled with each other, before both Pikachu and Eevee joined in with the brothers bonding together.

It was that day... that the Ketchum brothers' true journey would begin.

* * *

 **([Opening] Pokémon Theme: Gotta Catch 'Em All (English))**

 ** _I wanna be the very best  
Like no one ever was  
To catch them is my real test  
To train them is my cause_**

(Ash and Isamu runs together with Pikachu and Eevee. While they run, many different scenes show of different Pokémon in different places and times, including the Legendary Bird Trio. It would most likely be the places that the Ketchum brothers traveled on their journey together.)

 ** _I will travel across the land  
Searching far and wide  
Each Pokémon to understand  
The power that's inside_**

(The Ketchum brothers take a break from their traveling, as Ash and Pikachu play together in a small river. Isamu grooms Eevee with a brush, much to Eevee's content. While Ash kept splashing Pikachu, the Electric Type managed to give Ash a big splash from his tail!)

(While the younger Ketchum brother was stunned, Pikachu just laughed, as the splashing game continued on. But one splash from Pikachu accidentally splashed onto Eevee a little, annoying her before she jumped into the river to join in with the game.)

(Isamu blinked before he smiled, seeing how fun Ash and Pikachu were doing together. He soon joins in the game with his three companions, causing all four of them to be drenched when they finished their fun.)

 ** _Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), it's you and me_**

 ** _I know it's my destiny  
(Pokémon!)_**

(The Ketchum brothers sleeps in their sleeping bags, while Pikachu sleeps with Ash as they nuzzle each other in content. Eevee sleeps with Isamu, as their bond grows even more, becoming even stronger.)

 ** _Oh, you're my best friend  
In a world we must defend_**

(Ash and Pikachu approaches a Caterpie. While Pikachu tries to surprise Caterpie, he ends up accidentally shocking Ash when the younger brother tries to stop Pikachu from attacking recklessly, alerting Caterpie in the process.)

(Isamu and Eevee approaches a nearby lake after he agreed to meet up with Ash once they captured their first Pokémon. He watches to see a mother Dragonair playing with her child, Dratini. Dragonair soon notices the elder brother and Eevee and gets ready to defend her child.)

 _ **Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), a heart so true  
Our courage will pull us through  
You teach me, and I'll teach you  
Po-ké-mon!  
(Gotta catch 'em all!)  
Gotta catch 'em all!**_

(Caterpie shoots a String Shot attack, which Ash takes to defend Pikachu. In return, the Electric Type shocks Caterpie with his Electric Type attack! Using his strength to free himself from the String Shot, Ash manages to take control and command Pikachu for a Quick Attack.)

(The Quick Attack makes a critical mark onto Caterpie, causing it to fall off the tree and skid on the ground. At that, Ash throws a Pokéball to capture Caterpie.)

(Isamu doesn't prepare to fight back, as he only watches Dragonair and Dratini with a caring smile. Dragonair lowers her guard and watches to see Dratini bonding with Eevee happily, causing Isamu to watch the two with a chuckle.)

(Eventually, Dragonair agrees to let Dratini travel with Isamu as she entrusts her son's safety to the elder Ketchum brother. Isamu promises as he captures Dratini, who gets in the Pokéball without any hesitation.)

 ** _Every challenge along the way  
With courage I will face  
I will battle every day  
To claim my rightful place_**

(Ash successfully captures Caterpie, causing both him and Pikachu to cheer for their success.)

(Isamu arrives at the same time Ash captures Caterpie as the two brothers shows their newly caught Pokémon to each other.)

(The brothers travel across the land again to head to a different town.)

 ** _Come with me, the time is right  
There's no better team,  
Arm in arm, we'll win the fight  
It's always been our dream_**

(The two stops for a quick lunch with their four Pokémon. Dratini and Caterpie has no trouble with the two, as they bond with them, Eevee, and Pikachu.)

(The boys arrive at a small town, where Ash is challenged to a battle by a Trainer with a Machop. Isamu is challenged to a battle as well by a Trainer with a Raticate.)

 ** _Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), it's you and me  
I know it's my destiny  
(Pokémon!)  
Oh, you're my best friend  
In a world we must defend_**

(The brothers win their battle against their opponents. They soon became quick friends with the two Trainers before they parted with each other, the four promising to meet each other again someday.)

 ** _Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), a heart so true  
Our courage will pull us through_**

(One scene shows the brothers watching the moonlight where the Butterfrees were flying. They watched with Pikachu, Eevee, Caterpie, and Dratini as Caterpie excitedly expresses his wish to become a Butterfree someday.)

(Another scene shows Ash and Isamu watching the sky with their two partners.)

 ** _You teach me, and I'll teach you  
Po-ké-mon!  
(Gotta catch 'em all!)  
Gotta catch 'em all!_**

 ** _Gotta catch 'em all!_**

(The brothers and their partners run through a rainstorm.)

(Another day shows the brothers, Pikachu, and Eevee running through a flower field, where they lie down together to see the sky. They all feel the wind blow as it carries the flower petals into the sky.)

 **(Opening Ends)**

* * *

 **Ash's POV**

My name is Ash! I'm the younger brother of my older brother, Isamu. But I guess from the last chapter, you were able to know some parts of me, thanks to my big bro. Like we announced together to the Spearow flock when they attacked us and our Pokémon... Our goals were to become Pokémon Masters.

I know it may sound crazy, considering that there could be many Trainers all wishing for the same thing, but... I just know it! I just know that we can become strong together by working as one with our Pokémon!

Right now, with the many days passing ever since we began our journey, we're in the Celadon Gym in Celadon City right now! Once we win there, the two of us will have three Kanto Gym Badges together! The Gym Leader there is a Grass Type user and her name I see Erika.

She's pretty strong, but I know Pikachu and I should be able to pull it off! Big bro and Eevee had already defeated her, so I'm confident that I'm strong enough to win my third achievement! Right now, Pikachu is facing off against Erika's Tangela, as I gave my buddy a command.

"Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!" I yelled out. At my call, Pikachu dashed towards Erika's Tangela with high speed, as the Grass Type master tried to counter the move with her Tangela's moves.

"Tangela! Vine Whip!" Erika called back. The Tangela shot vines from its body to try and entangle Pikachu, so that their chances of victory would be easier! But I know that it wasn't going to work. Because Pikachu mastered the speed for the Quick Attack, thanks to all our training together.

And to my joy, that belief came true when Pikachu dodged all the Vine Whip attacks to knock Tangela away with his strong, speedy attack!

The impact from the Quick Attack knocked our Grass Type opponent out, allowing the referee to make the call for our victory.

"Tangela is unable to battle! Pikachu wins! Thus, the winner is Ash, from Pallet Town!" The referee called out, causing the two of us to cheer together for our victory together!

 **Winner: Ash**

"Alright! Man, you were awesome, Pikachu!" I cried out happily, causing Pikachu to cry out happily. The little buddy of mine jumped into my arms as we celebrated for our third Gym Battle victory! As we cheered together, Erika came to us with a Badge in her hand!

"Very well... As proof of your victory at the Celadon Gym, and by the authority of the Pokémon League... I now present you with the Rainbow Badge." Erika said, as I took the Badge from her excitedly. I held the badge in front of me and Pikachu as I cheered again.

"I just got a Rainbow Badge!" I cried out, with Pikachu crying out in joy!

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu cried out as Erika blinked, before asking me a question.

"How many Badges does this make?" Erika asked as I smiled, before giving out my answer.

"It's my third one! Same with big bro!" I answered ecstatically as Erika smiled in understanding. She wished me luck with her words, as I knew that I was a few steps close to becoming a Pokémon Master!

"I look forward to you winning all eight, and entering the Pokémon League!" Erika said, causing me to grin back and nod.

"Thanks!" I said as Pikachu climbed up to my shoulder. At seeing my best bud, I scratched his cheek a little, causing him to cry out happily. Pikachu enjoys having his cheeks scratched, as long as it's gentle. If it's rough... Well, you know what'll happen.

So, after I won my third Gym Badge, I headed outside, only to see my big bro standing right in front of the entrance with Eevee on his shoulder. He noticed on how happy I looked as he gave me a smile, taking a guess on what happened with my battle against Erika.

"That bright grin of yours is telling me that you won against Erika, right?" Isamu asked as I grinned.

"Yep! Now we both have three Gym Badges! Just five more until we get to the Pokémon League! And there, we can win that competition in order to become Pokémon Masters!" I cried out happily until Isamu gave me a reminder of what I said wrong.

"You mean if one of us wins. The Pokémon League only accepts one winner to become a Pokémon Master, Ash. That means one of us has to lose in order for the other to win. And I'll tell you this... I don't plan on going easy on you just because you're my little bro." Isamu said teasingly.

That sounds like a real challenge. If I were to go against big bro and Eevee, then I'm sure I'll have a really tough, but fun battle!

"Oh, you're on! Once we get to the Pokémon League and face against each other, let's make it the best battle ever, big bro!" I called out, making my challenge. I raised a fist to Isamu, causing him to smile and give me a fist bump.

Eevee and Pikachu did the same together, only that their fists were paws... So, I guess that it would be a paw bump for them?

Anyways... After my Gym Battle, the two of us decided to head for the nearest Pokémon Center. There was one in a forest up ahead that's outside Celadon City. We headed inside to get our Pokémon checked up and to call Mom.

The truth is... ever since we started our journey, we never bothered to call her. I guess you can say... we kinda forgot? Man... I don't know what to say if I saw Mom using her Scary Face attack on us. Isamu wouldn't be fazed, but I would be nervous, of course.

And... I was right. Mom looked angry when she picked up as I tried to greet her in a friendly way.

"Oh... Hi, Mom!" I said as Isamu gave a sheepish smile. Mom on the other hand, didn't greet us in a friendly way as she snapped at us for calling her when we should've a few weeks ago.

"Well, well! You two finally decided to call!" Mom snapped as I flinched, while Isamu kept his sheepish face as he tried to explain why we didn't pick up her previous calls.

"Well, yes... But, the truth is..." Isamu started to say. But Mom didn't seem to want to listen to our excuse as she kept snappin at us for not calling her when we got to the first Pokémon Center in Viridian City.

"Do you two have any idea how many Pokémon Centers I've been leaving messages at, hoping that the both of you would be there!?" Mom snapped, causing me to look at her sadly as I asked on what she was calling us about.

Pikachu on the other hand, befriended an Ivysaur that belonged to another Trainer. Eevee only watched near big bro's foot as my little buddy began to make a funny face to Ivysaur. He made a face that looked similar to an Ivysaur, catching it by surprise!

While Ivysaur was surprised, Eevee only giggled to see Pikachu making a face like that. As for my little buddy, he began to laugh with the reaction Ivysaur had shown when he made a face like itself.

"So, what's this big emergency?" I asked as Mom spoke up loudly.

"If I didn't say it was a big emergency, I wouldn't have called you both! You two are just like your father... It wouldn't hurt you two to call me once in a while, now wouldn't it?" Mom asked as Isamu stepped up, trying to explain on why we couldn't answer her calls earlier.

"Look... We're sorry, Mom. But... So many things have been happening even right before we got to the first town. I'm sure that even if we told you of what happened, you wouldn't believe us. You'd think we're crazy, probably..." Isamu explained as Mom sighed.

But before she could speak, she noticed Eevee climbing onto big bro's shoulder while Pikachu climbed on mine. At that point, she immediately lost her angry and upset face once she took a look at the two with a bright smile on her face.

"Huh? Oh, Pikachu! Eevee! Hi there!" Mom said happily, as our two partners waved to our Mom as I frowned.

"That's all? I'm hanging up..." I started to say until Mom returned to her serious expression before she started lecturing us both to make sure that we were okay.

Geez... Can't she tell that we're fine? I mean, sure... We did have a problem starting on our journey because of the Spearow flock, but other than that, everything else was fine! But I knew Mom wouldn't let us go when she heard this as I kept my mouth shut.

"Now you just hold on! I just want to make sure the two of you are eating right!" Mom said as Isamu sighed with a sheepish look.

"We're eating, Mom... If we didn't eat, then we wouldn't be here talking to you right now..." Isamu said as Mom gave big bro a not impressed look as she continued on.

"I know you and Ash have been eating, Isamu... But you two also need to eat your vegetables! It's very important! And while at laundry... You two aren't wearing the same dirty clothes everyday, are you?" Mom asked as the two of us groaned.

"Come on, Mom... You worry too much!" I complained as big bro scratched the back of his head.

"This is one of the reasons why we never bothered to call you... When we're always about to do something back when we were young, you always embarrass us in front of the others... Can't you trust us more than you're doing right now?" Isamu asked seriously.

Before Mom could answer back, we heard the Pokémon Center doors open, catching our attention! Everyone else at the Center also turned their attention to see a Trainer coming in with a Vaporeon in his hands.

Wait... That Vaporeon... It looked like it was roughed badly in a battle! What happened to it!?

"Excuse me!? Nurse Joy! Please help my Pokémon! Vaporeon's been hurt!" The trainer gasped as he took several breaths before handing poor Vaporeon to Nurse Joy. The nurse widened her eyes before she took Vaporeon in her arms.

"Let me see... It doesn't look good. What happened?" Nurse Joy asked, causing the Trainer to gulp and narrow his eyes.

"An Entei came out of nowhere!" The Trainer said, feeling upset for what had happened. But as he mentioned the Pokémon's name, I widened my eyes, and so did big bro! We looked at each other and nodded.

With that, I hurriedly turned to Mom, hanging up on her with a quick apology.

"I'm sorry, Mom! I've got to go!" I cried out as Mom widened her eyes, before she tried to stop us.

"What..!? Ash, Isamu-" Her words were cut off when I hanged up on her. Man... She's going to be really steamed when we call her again. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters, is what that guy said about Entei!

"I thought for sure that this time we could catch it..." The Trainer said sadly as Nurse Joy smiled at him with a reassuring look.

"Don't worry. It'll be just fine." Nurse Joy said reassuringly. With those words, she took Vaporeon into the emergency room, with Chaney following at her side.

"Thank you so much..." The Trainer said in relief as we approached him, along with some other Trainers. Big bro spoke up, having the serious tone and expression on his face as he asked.

"Hey... Did you say Entei? Was that the Pokémon that got your Vaporeon hurt that way?" Isamu asked as the Trainer nodded, affirming that it was true.

"Yeah... One of the Legendary Pokémon. They're so rare, nobody ever sees them! I tried to catch it, but it was so overwhelmingly strong, we were beat in no time. And after that, it ran into the forest." The Trainer explained.

By the time he was done, several other Trainers in the Center rushed out to see and capture the Legendary Pokémon! We watched to see them all having the determination to capture it while running out, leaving the two of us and the defeated Trainer alone.

"It's probably still close!"

"I'm gonna catch it!"

Those were the words the rushing Trainers said when they left the Pokémon Center. I turned to big bro, gaining a nod from him. We both knew what we planned to do next: capture Entei together and make one of our teams stronger!

"Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Eevee, let's start our tough challenge..."

At our calls, both Pikachu and Eevee were right at out side as the two of us ran out to find the Legendary Pokémon. While we were doing so, we ran into the forest like that guy told us about. If Entei was still around, then we have to battle it!

There's a chance that the Legendary Pokémon might want to come to our side if we prove our strength to it together!

"Where are you, Entei!?" I called out as Isamu kept up the pace on my left. While we were running, he reminded me of the strength that the Legendary Pokémon could have if we were to fight against it.

"Careful, Ash... Even if we were to go against Entei, then it would be a really tough battle. If that guy with the Vaporeon was beaten quick, there's no telling what will happen to us if one of us makes the wrong move." Isamu said, allowing me to understand slowly.

"Yeah... I hear you, big bro..." I said seriously. Whenever big bro makes a tone like that, I knew he wasn't fooling around. The last time he warned me about the Graveler and Golem, I actually ignored him, thinking that he could be wrong.

But in truth, I was the one that was wrong... And because of my serious mistake, we almost got trampled by their group Rollout attack! We were lucky to escape alive, though...

Because of that, I knew when to heed my big bro's words... When he's dead serious, then he knows something bad is up.

But by the time I remembered the past, the two of us stopped to take a look around carefully to see where the Legendary Pokémon was. While we were looking however, I noticed something amiss ahead to my right as I widened my eyes to see who was up ahead.

"There it is!"

"There it is!"

"There!"

"There!"

As Isamu and I spoke our words, we heard two other people saying the same words of what we said! Turning to where they were coming from, we noticed two girls on our right! One girl looked like a tomboyish girl with high spirit. The other looked timid, but reliable at the same time!

Wait... Did I say tomboyish to one, and the other... reliable?

By the time I was bewildered with my own thoughts, the tomboyish girl smirked at us as she ran ahead of Isamu and me, along with the girl that seemed timid! The three of us gasped as we tried to run after the tomboyish girl.

By the time big bro and I were arm in arm with the tomboyish girl, the timid one also caught up to her as she sent out a Pokémon that we've never seen before!

"Let's go, Piplup!" The tomboyish girl cried out as a blue penguin Pokémon appeared to run alongside with her! While she did that, the timid one sent her Pokémon out too... One that we were familiar with.

"Arcanine, please lend me your strength!" The timid girl called out as she called forth the Fire Type Pokémon that was somehow called, the Legendary Pokémon! While the girls were running with their Pokémon, I called out to them with an annoyed tone.

Those two weren't going to get ahead of us!

"Hold it! We got here first!" I snapped out, catching big bro by surprise.

"We got here first!" The tomboyish girl snapped back, irritating me even more.

With that, both her and I raced against each other for it, leaving big bro and the timid girl behind as they widened their eyes in bewilderment. They both sighed while they kept up the pace with us as the four of us kept running to where Entei was.

But for me, I unfortunately had to climb up a small cliff to get down to where the others were, with Pikachu running at my side. Because of that, we were slowed down a little, making the tomboyish girl way ahead of us!

While she took the lead, she called to her Pokémon to attack.

"Piplup! Use Bubblebeam!" The tomboyish girl called out, ordering her penguin Pokémon to attack. At the order, the penguin Pokémon shot bubbles at Entei, which seem to make that Pokémon a Water Type!

But as the Bubblebeam attack was shot, Entei seemed to have seen it coming as it jumped up high in the air to dodge it! While it did so, it towered over me and big bro, catching the two of us by surprise as Entei looked at us in the eye.

Whoa... What's with the sudden glare? We weren't the ones to attack it! It was that girl and her penguin Pokémon!

"Ash, get out of the way! If Entei attacks us here at this range, we're done for! Eevee, use Shadow Ball!" Isamu cried out as Eevee charged up the Ghost Type attack to blast it at Entei! As for me, I came back to my senses before I turned to my Electric Type buddy.

"Ah...! Right! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" I called out, ordering Pikachu to shock Entei. But as both our Pokémon launched their attacks, Entei easily got out of the way, making our attacks useless!

It first landed to where the timid girl was, catching her by surprise as she gasped in shock. Arcanine got in front of her protectively as Entei glared at both her and her Fire Type. Big bro widened his eyes as he tried to run for her.

"Hey, look out!" Isamu called out as Arcanine seemed to have heard him. Because of big bro's call, Arcanine shot a Flamethrower to try and knock Entei out of the way, only for Entei to jump and land on the rock.

As it glared at the four of us Trainers and Pokémon, all of us ran to where it was until Entei launched a fiery Flamethrower attack! The girls and their Pokémon managed to run off quick, but I wasn't so lucky as I got my butt burned from the flames!

"AHHH!" I yelled as I patted my butt to put out the fire as Isamu and Eevee helped me get to safety.

"Argh... This is why I said to be careful, Ash..." Isamu said seriously, causing me to give big bro a sheepish look.

"Sorry, bro..." I said nervously as Entei jumped and landed on the ground again. This time, another boy came to face Entei with another unfamiliar Pokémon to the both of us.

"Lucario! Aura Sphere!" The boy called out, allowing his Pokémon to launch his unknown attack. But as the attack called Aura Sphere was launched, it exploded onto Entei, making it seem like it did a lot of damage!

But to our surprise, Entei looked like it didn't take any damage at all! It just stood there, unfazed from the Aura Sphere attack as it shot another Flamethrower attack to blast the Pokémon called Lucario back, sending him into a tree!

I couldn't believe on how strong Entei looked as the tomboyish girl tried again with her Pokémon called Piplup.

"Heh heh... Piplup! Bubblebeam!" The tomboyish girl called out, ordering her Piplup to shoot another Bubblebeam attack! But just like before, Entei easily dodged the super effective attack and landed on the ground! As it did so, it knocked the four of us back!

The four of us and our Pokémon all cried out in surprise as we fell back from the sharp wind Entei somehow made just by landing. While we were stunned, Entei took this chance to escape as it ran off, getting out of our sight as I groaned.

We had one chance to befriend a Legendary Pokémon, and it got away! That girl and her Piplup... If she hadn't gotten in the way, then big bro and I could've caught it!

While Isamu and I recovered from the blow we felt, the tomboyish girl glared at us, accusing us for letting Entei escape!

"Alright... You two let it escape!" The tomboyish girl snapped angrily.

"Piplup!" Piplup agreed as it glared at us as well, until I tried to defend ourselves by throwing the accusation back!

"Hey! We totally could've caught it if you hadn't gotten in the way!" I snapped back with Pikachu agreeing. This only annoyed the girl as she threw the accusation back at me this time with narrowed eyes.

"You and your twin were in the way!" The tomboyish girl snapped as the timid one tried to calm her tomboyish friend down.

"Verity, stop it... It's no one's fault. Neither of us were doing so well against it. And neither were those two. Just because Entei got away doesn't mean you have the right to accuse someone because of your faults..." The timid girl said, trying to get the tomboyish girl to calm down.

"No way, Luna! That dumb kid and his twin would never have been able to defeat or catch Entei! They should've just left things to us girls!" The tomboyish girl, whose name was Verity snapped back as big bro stepped up with a shake of his head.

"Who are you calling a dumb kid and his twin? I hardly believe any of us could've caught it even with the four of us together. We're facing a Legendary Pokémon, for crying out loud. If several trainers couldn't catch it, so then how could we!?" Isamu snapped back, catching the girls by surprise.

Piplup and Arcanine didn't seem so happy to see big bro lecturing the two as they glared at him until the timid girl named Luna calmed her Pokémon down.

"Stop it, Arcanine... He's right. We wouldn't have stood a chance even with all of us together." Luna said softly, calming her partner down. Well... That girl looks okay, but the tomboyish one isn't!

"I'm not going to be lectured from a kid like you! Wanna see if one of you can beat me?" Verity scoffed, making a challenge as I took it. No one is going to make fun of us and get away with it!

"Good idea! I'll battle you! I'm Ash, from Pallet Town! Let's have a battle!" "Pikachu!" Pikachu and I called out, challenging the tomboyish girl, as she smirked back at my challenge.

"And I accept! I'm Verity, and I'm from Twinleaf Town!" Verity said as she turned to the boy with his Lucario.

"Hey, dude! Once I polish off this kid, you're gonna be next!" Verity said bravely, causing Luna to sigh.

"Verity, stop it already. His Lucario had been wounded by Entei already. Do you want to have a battle where you would already have an unfair advantage?" Luna asked, freezing the tomboyish girl in her tracks as she sweat dropped from her little mistake.

I, on the other hand, wanted to battle that guy, too! His Lucario must be strong if it was able to use a strong move like that!

"I want to battle with you, too!... Hey, what do you mean, polish me off!?" I started to say, before I snapped at Verity, annoyed with what she said. Just because I look like a kid, doesn't give her the right to say I'm weak! Pikachu and I are strong together!

Big bro could only sigh as he placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to cool me down from my temper.

"Just leave her be, Ash... You know she only wants you to be irritated so that it would be easier for her to win." Isamu told me reassuringly, allowing myself to calm down as Verity scoffed, before sticking out her tongue at us.

But for the guy with the Lucario, he didn't seem so interested as he returned his Lucario back to his Pokéball.

"I'm Sorrel from Veilstone City. I think I'll take a pass on the battles." The boy, now known as Sorrel said as Verity mocked him for declining the double challenge from both me and her.

"Running away?" Verity teased as I tried to get him to change his mind.

"Come on, let's have a battle! It doesn't have to be your Lucario, you know!" I called out as Luna and Isamu watched us try and call Sorrel back. But our efforts to change his mind didn't work as he kept on walking to leave the scene.

"Here's a little warning for all of you. You four are going to feel the wind, soon. I'd start looking for shelter from the rain." Sorrel said as he walked off, leaving the four of us alone as I looked up at the sky, confused to what he said just now.

"Huh? It's gonna rain?" I asked as Isamu studied the clouds above us as he sighed.

"Looks like it. Looks like your battle will have to be quick if we don't wanna get wet." Isamu said, causing me to nod as Verity smirked at us both.

"Before you two find shelter, I think the two of you will need to call your Mommy." Verity said, annoying me as I growled at her. That girl...! She must've heard of us talking with Mom on the phone...

Now I know what Isamu meant when the two of us should be embarrassed with other people around. But other than that, I didn't like that tone and attitude of hers as I got ready to face off against her and her Piplup with Pikachu.

"Hey! Quit it! Let's do this..." I grumbled, as Verity smirked back before we gave each other some distance.

"Right with you!" Verity said as I offered her the first attack. Big bro and Luna on the other hand stood back to watch us until Luna offered big bro a challenge as well.

"While they're battling, how about we have a battle, too? I'm Luna, from Pewter City." Luna said as Isamu blinked, before she accepted the timid girl's challenge.

"Alright, then. I accept your challenge. My name is Isamu. And like Ash, I'm from Pallet Town." "Eevee!" Both Isamu and Eevee explained together as the two Trainers made distance from each other so that they could have a fair battle with each other.

"I'll give you the first move!"

"Do you want to go first, or should I?"

Big bro and I said those words to the girls together as they only responded back with confident looks on their faces.

"Quit trying to be a gentleman! You may wind up regretting it!"

"I'll go first. Thanks for the offer!"

 **Isamu: Eevee VS Luna: Arcanine**

 **Ash: Pikachu VS Verity: Piplup**

"Now, Piplup! Use Drill Peck!" Verity called out as her Piplup charged towards my partner! I knew what to do as I called for a counterattack!

"Alright, Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!" I called out, making Pikachu charge and clash his Iron Tail with Piplup's Drill Peck attack! The two attacks collided before it caused both of our starters to skid back as I took my chance to make the next move.

"Now! Use Quick Attack!" I yelled, ordering Pikachu to slam into Piplup! Yes! It was a direct hit! I watched as Piplup skidded back from the impact as Verity gasped to see her Piplup taking some damage from our first hit.

As for big bro and Luna, they began their battle with Luna taking the first move.

"Arcanine, let's begin with Flamethrower!" Luna called out as Arcanine blasted the flames to where Eevee was as big bro immediately countered the flames with his attack!

"Don't think so! Eevee, use Quick Attack to dodge and hit!" Isamu called out. Eevee didn't need to be told twice as the little fox evaded Flamethrower with her speed, before she rammed into Arcanine, causing the strong Fire Type to flinch and skid back!

"Piplup, are you okay!?"

"No, Arcanine! Are you alright!?"

Both of them expressed their worries for their Pokémon, as they called out to show that they were okay, earning nods from them as the battle continued on.

"Then, use Hydro Pump!"

"Alright! Use Flamethrower one more time!"

Both of their Pokémon launched another attack at us as we got ready to make our partners dodge them.

"Dodge it!"

"Dodge it with Quick Attack, one more time!"

But as both Pikachu and Eevee got out of the way with their speed, the Hydro Pump and Flamethrower hit something else! This caught all of our attention as we turned to see what the two attacks had hit! And to all of our shock, it was... an Onix!

Onix roared really loud, which sounded like it was in intense pain! It roared, going after Piplup as I took quick action to get the poor Water Type out of the way, before handing it to Verity, who expressed her worry for her Water Type.

"My Piplup!" Verity gasped as she took her partner back with thanks. But that was when Onix started to charge for Luna instead! She paled as she screamed from the incoming blow that she could take!

"EEEEEK!" Luna screamed as Isamu widened her eyes before he tried to run and save her from the big guy. But big bro however, was beaten to the punch by Arcanine, who got in Onix's way as he took the rampaging Tackle attack head on!

The blow from that nearly knocked the wind out of Arcanine as Luna gasped in horror before she called back Arcanine in order to keep him safe from anymore damage.

"No! A-Arcanine, return!" Luna called out as she called Arcanine back, before Isamu took her to where Verity and I were! While the four of us reunited together, Onix was still roaring at us angrily, annoyed for the uncalled attacks that we did!

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Isamu called out, making us all agree as we all ran off to escape from the rampaging Rock Type Pokémon!

While we were all running, we came to a cliff where we all had to slide down in order to get away quick. But we didn't seem fast enough as Onix broke out of the cliff and roared at us! Man, that guy seems really angry if it's trying to keep following us like that!

Despite the fact that Onix could catch up, the four of us ran as fast we could as I noticed the rock up ahead.

"Ah! Look! That rock! Let's get on top of it!" I cried out as the four of us ran to where the rock was. But as we all climbed up to get away, Onix smashed the rock apart, causing all of us to yell as we were all sent flying high into the air!

Somehow, we all got onto Onix's back, who kept roaring and ramming himself onto cliff walls! This is bad... If this keeps up, then Onix will only end up hurting himself more than hurting us!

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 3: Charmander's Hope! Sorrel's Help**

 **Chapter 4: Cross' Conviction! Ash's Despair!?**

 **Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For**

 **Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash catches a Caterpie

\- Isamu catches a Dratini

\- Isamu and Ash both now have three Kanto Gym Badges

\- Isamu and Ash learns about Entei

\- Isamu and Ash meets Verity, Luna, and Sorrel


	3. Charmander's Hope! Sorrel's Help!

**Chapter 3: Charmander's Hope! Sorrel's Help**

 **Isamu's POV**

Last chapter, Ash and I saw a Ho-Oh, one of the Legendary Pokémon that was flying above us. And while it was flying, a wing fell out from it, somehow. I could only guess that it belonged to Ho-Oh. Did it drop it by accident or was it a gift to the two of us, somehow?

But after seeing Ho-Oh, the two of us promised together that we would find Ho-Oh again someday, while traveling together to become strong. Our partners, Eevee and Pikachu were right with us when we began to travel around in the Kanto region.

Along the way, we fought many tough battles while befriending a wild Caterpie and Dratini, adding them to our teams and companions. But after we defeated Erika at the Celadon City Gym, we were lectured by our mother back at the Pokémon Center, causing us to be embarrassed for all the Trainers that heard her.

But while we were speaking to her, we discovered a Trainer who was defeated by another Legendary Pokémon, Entei. Inspired to see this Pokémon, Ash and I explored around the forest to search for it. It's also where we met three new Trainers.

The two girls had Arcanine and Piplup. Their names were Luna and Verity. The boy with the Lucario was Sorrel. But even with the five of us together, none of us were able to deal serious damage to Entei, let alone catch it.

After a bit of arguing, Ash and I got into a battle against both Luna and Verity. But while we were battling, Piplup and Arcanine's attacks accidentally woke up an Onix, who got into a rage for the rude awakening! Now we were running for our lives, hoping to outrun the angry Rock Snake Pokémon.

* * *

Despite the fact that Onix could catch up, the four of us ran as fast we could as Ash noticed the rock up ahead.

"Ah! Look! That rock! Let's get on top of it!" Ash cried out as the four of us ran to where the rock was. But as we all climbed up to get away, Onix smashed the rock apart, causing all of us to yell as we were all sent flying high into the air!

Somehow, we all got onto Onix's back, who kept roaring in anger while ramming himself onto cliff walls! This is bad... At this rate, Onix will only end up hurting himself more than hurting us! Ash seemed to get it as he tried to call for the Rock Snake Pokémon to stop.

"Onix! Stop it! You're only gonna hurt yourself this way!" Ash snapped as he tried to hang on tight to the Rock Type's body.

"I don't think Onix is listening! It's too angry to listen to anyone right now!" I grunted as I held tight as well, with Eevee struggling as well. Luna and Verity were also having trouble holding on as Verity snapped at little bro for the yelling.

"Your brother is right! Besides, yelling at it is only going to make it worse!" Verity added as Luna shrieked, feeling the pressure she was feeling of trying to hold on. While Onix continued on with his rampage, Ash suddenly turned to me with a serious expression.

"Big bro! Look after Pikachu for a sec!" Ash called out, causing me to widen my eyes in both surprise and realization.

"Wait, what are you...!? Ash, are you crazy!?" I yelled after him as he got up to run on Onix's body and jump off! All of us and our Pokémon gasped to see little bro jump off Onix's head and get in front of the Rock Snake Pokémon with a serious and determined look.

"Ash, be careful!" "Oh no!" Both Verity and Luna suddenly became concerned for little bro as I gritted my teeth. I knew that he liked Pokémon and didn't want them to get hurt, but facing Onix head on like this is just... crazy! He could die if Onix continues on like this!

"ASH! GET OUT OF THERE!" I bellowed out, with Pikachu and Eevee calling to him. But still determined to stop Onix on his own, Ash remained still, while yelling at Onix to stop his rampaging right now.

"STOP IT!" Ash screamed out loud. Despite his yell, Onix continued rampaging, forcing me to call Eevee!

"Dammit! Eevee, stop Onix in his tracks with Shadow Ball!" I called out.

"Piplup, you help too! Use Whirlpool!" Verity shouted out.

At our orders, both Eevee and Piplup launched their attacks in front of Onix, causing the Whirlpool to block Onix's way! And the Shadow Ball from Eevee stopped Onix in his tracks, preventing the Rock Snake Pokémon from moving any further.

At this opportunity, Ash began to speak, attempting to convince the big Rock Type to calm down and stop his wild rampaging.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Onix! I wish you'd just calm down, please!" Ash pleaded, showing how serious he was to the Rock Snake Pokémon. I listened and watched as little bro remained determined to stop the Pokémon from hurting himself.

I could only bite my lips and hope that Onix would listen to what little bro was saying. The others watched as well as they seemed to hope the same thing. But just as we could think that things were about to get worse, Onix seemed to understand as he roared softly before digging underground.

That gave me, Verity, and Luna the signal to jump off of Onix's back, with Pikachu, Piplup, and Eevee following! The Rock Snake Pokémon disappeared underground, his rage finally calmed down, thanks to Ash's efforts of trying to befriend the Rock Snake Pokémon.

However... what he did was VERY reckless! As the four of us and our three Pokémon friends ran to where Onix escaped, Verity and Luna both called to the disappeared Rock Type for the mistake they've made with their Pokémon's attacks.

"Onix, I'm sorry!"

"I hope you can forgive us for our mistakes!"

I sighed, folding my arms before turning to the two girls with a small smile.

"Don't worry... With the way Onix just acted, I'm sure it forgave the two of you and your partner Pokémon for the mistake you've done with your attacks from before..." I said in a reassuring way. The girls both sighed in relief while Ash complimented both Eevee and Piplup for the save.

"Piplup and Eevee... Your Whirlpool and Shadow Ball together really saved the day!" Ash complimented with a grin.

"Piplup...!"

"Vee! Eevee!"

The two Pokémon thanked Ash for the praise. But I on the other hand, wasn't too pleased with the reckless action Ash had done just now with Onix as I stepped up to him with an annoyed expression, causing little bro to sweat drop and take a few steps back with a nervous expression.

"H-Huh!? Oh... Ah ha... Big bro! Everything's going to be okay, okay? No one got hurt pretty bad, right?" Ash asked nervously, causing me to snap.

"YOU THINK!? That was a very reckless stunt you pulled back there, little bro! If it weren't for Eevee and Piplup shooting their attacks to stop Onix in its tracks, you would've been squashed flat to the ground! Do you have any idea how shocked I was with you jumping off like that!?" I snapped at him.

Both Verity and Luna flinched at my sudden change of my tone as I lectured Ash with the reckless things he did just now, causing him to gulp and sweat for a few minutes before I stopped my angry lecture with a sigh.

"You can be really unbelievable, you know that...?" I sighed as Ash gave a sheepish smile to me, before reminding me of the time when we tried to protect both Pikachu and Eevee together from the angry Spearow flock.

"Come on, big bro... You know that it wasn't just me getting reckless! There was a time when you acted reckless when we faced the Spearow flock together, remember?" Ash asked, causing me to glare at little bro before I spoke.

"Excuse me, little brother... You were the one that started with that reckless action! I couldn't just sit there and let you be the only one to nearly get pecked to death by the flock when it should be the two of us fighting together..." I said annoyingly, despite my tone sounding a bit soft.

That caused Ash to sigh again before he gave me an apologetic look.

"Y-Yeah... I'm sorry." Ash said, causing me to turn back to him with a weak smile.

"It's fine. Just... don't try anything stupid like that again." I said softly. Eevee and Pikachu both smiled at the two of us reconciling as Verity stepped up, thanking little bro for the "heroic acts" he did just now to save not just her, but Luna and Piplup.

"Ash, thank you. I've got to tell you... you do some dumb things, but I'm impressed!" Verity admitted, causing me to chuckle a little. Ash on the other hand, just blinked with bewilderment while Verity shook her head.

"Huh...?" was all Ash could say before Verity just giggled.

"Forget it!" Verity giggled as Luna stepped up to me this time, with a timid, but calm smile on her face.

"Isamu... Thanks for your help, too. I don't know what I would've done too, if Onix continued to rampage like that." Luna said softly as I folded my arms before I sighed, shaking my head in denial.

"If you want to thank anyone, thank my little bro there. He's the one that reasoned Onix to stop rampaging in the first place, despite of his reckless stunt..." I said, before giving another glare to Ash, who just flinched at my small glare at him.

Luna nodded reluctantly at that, before she blinked. I blinked as well, feeling something wet as I looked up. The others looked up as well to see...

"Rain!" Ash pointed out, with Luna remembering what Sorrel said before.

"It's just like what Sorrel said... We have to find shelter!" Luna cried out. At the four of us agreeing, we all ran to find someplace where we could find shelter. It couldn't be anywhere, since there could be wild Pokémon sheltering in some places, too.

But as we were running, both Ash and I heard a faint cry coming from our right!

"Char..." A Pokémon cried out sadly as both he and I turned to see a familiar Pokémon right ahead of us! It was a Charmander! Verity and Luna stopped to see the little Fire Type sitting on a rock, with a sad and weak expression on its face as we ran over to it.

"A Charmander!" Ash exclaimed in disbelief.

"It doesn't look like it's very happy..." Verity said, noticing how it felt on its face.

I knelt down to its level, questioning on why it was here and not in a dry and warm place.

"Hey... What are you doing here? It's raining, which means it won't be safe here for you! Look at your flame! It's starting to dim weakly because of the rain falling down!" I said, trying to make the Charmander be convinced that it wasn't safe for him to be here.

But sad as it was, the Lizard Pokémon only gave a sad glance at both me and Eevee, before it looked up. As soon as it did, it widened its eyes before it ran to someone that was coming! The four of us turned to see a Trainer coming to our way with a Pokémon that I haven't seen before.

One look at his face gave me small chills. Who was that guy? He didn't look like a nice person, considering the way his face is showing it. And that Pokémon of his... it looked strong and wild, which could possibly intimidate any opponent that stands in its way!

"Could that be Charmander's Trainer?" Luna asked, catching my attention as I watched Charmander run to the boy happily, which seemed to prove Luna's guess correct. But with the way the Trainer was moving, he didn't look happy to see the Fire Type coming to him.

But just as Charmander weakly embraced the Trainer's right leg, he just scoffed and kicked the weak Fire Type away! Ash, Luna, and Verity all gasped before they glared at the Trainer while I just narrowed my eyes at this creep.

Eevee, Pikachu, and Piplup all widened their eyes before we all ran to where Charmander was struggling to get up! The rain was pouring down on it, making it feel weaker, due to it being a Fire Type.

"You're still here? Go away!" The Trainer demanded as Ash and Pikachu ran over to Charmander to help it up. Luna joined him as Verity and I confronted the creep with Verity taking the first move by snapping at the Trainer.

"Hey, wait! Are you its Trainer!?" Verity asked, causing the Trainer to narrow his eyes.

"Who's asking...?" The Trainer asked in a mocking way, causing Ash to glare at him while Luna tried to comfort the little Lizard Pokémon.

"Answer the question!" Ash said angrily as the Trainer raised an eyebrow.

"Huh... What are you worked up about?" The Trainer asked as I stepped up, glaring at his arrogant and unconcerned expression.

"We're worked up on why you're treating Charmander this way. It looked pretty happy to see you, yet you didn't seem to care! Why is that?" I asked dangerously, causing the Pokémon of his to growl before the Trainer put a hand in front of it, stopping his Pokémon from doing anything rash.

"Hmph... You're pretty observant. Yeah. Originally, I was!" The Trainer said with a smirk, causing the four of us to tense with Ash repeating his word.

"Originally!?" Ash repeated in shock as the Trainer explained.

"I ditched the weakling! There are Charmander like that all over the place!" The Trainer spoke arrogantly, causing all of us and our Pokémon to be even madder. The Trainer continued on, his smirk going away as his face showed annoyance instead.

"But then, it just kept following me! So, I told it to wait here." The Trainer explained, snapping Ash as he spat at the arrogant Trainer.

"What an awful thing to say!" Ash snapped with Verity joining in.

"Ash is right! When you've caught a Pokémon and then you tell it to wait, some of them will actually wait forever!" Verity snapped at him. Taking no heed in Verity's words, the Trainer continued to walk before he stopped for a moment to glance back.

"So what's the problem?" The Trainer asked as he continued walking. That seemed to hurt Charmander a little as the Fire Type gave a weak "Char", before Ash ran over to try and confront the arrogant Trainer.

"Argh! Hold it!" Ash snapped as he forced the Trainer to turn to him, annoying the Trainer as his Pokémon reacted violently! It rushed in to attack, much to Ash's surprise as he tried to brace himself.

"Ash, no!" I called out as I tried to run forward to defend him. But just before I could even take a step, something else took the hit, protecting Ash from that Pokémon's sudden attack! The Trainer widened his eyes in surprise as he scoffed in annoyance.

"You...!" The Trainer said as his Pokémon glared at the one that blocked his attack. As for the one that protected Ash, it growled back as another voice joined in with the "conversation".

"Nice timing, Lycanroc." Another boy called out. I blinked, before turning to see another boy walking towards us! He looked pretty young, but mature at the same time. He had parallel black marks on his cheeks, which were under his ocean-blue eyes as he walked past us to confront the arrogant Trainer.

"I see you haven't changed this rude attitude of yours, Cross." The boy said seriously as the Trainer, now known as Cross glared at the newcomer.

"You and your so-called Pokémon friends... Why can't you stay out of business!?" Cross snapped as Verity and Luna looked at each other while I helped Ash get back up to his feet, with Eevee and Pikachu joining us.

"Why should I stay out when you're only causing trouble for other Trainers and the Pokémon that is still loyal to you? You have some nerve calling yourself a Trainer when all you do is abandon Pokémon that you deem as weak!" The newcomer said annoyingly as Cross twitched his eyes in annoyance.

Scoffing in annoyance, he stepped back, before glaring at the four of us.

"Listen well! Only a Pokémon's strength matters! If it's gonna survive, then it better grow stronger!" Cross said, snapping Ash again as he glared at Cross for his arrogant words.

"What!?" Ash snapped as Verity snapped at him also.

"Wait! Isn't it a Trainer's job to help their Pokémon grow strong!?" Verity snapped as Luna stepped in, feeling annoyed with the attitude Cross was giving off.

"How can you call yourself a Trainer if you just ditch them because of your selfish beliefs!?" Luna snapped as Cross just narrowed his eyes, before he spoke again.

"Hmph... It's my belief, so it's my choice! And what do you get for that work, anyway?" Cross asked as Ash was about to answer, before I stepped up. I wasn't going to let this punk get away with it, thinking that only the strong is better!

"That should be pretty obvious, isn't it? You get to become friends, making your bond even stronger!" I declared, catching everyone by surprise. Even the newcomer was a bit surprised for what I said as Cross scoffed again, refusing to believe in what I was saying about Pokémon.

"You and your twin there... are too soft! The only thing friendship does is make a Pokémon weak!" Cross declared, causing all of us to glare back at him.

"My name is Cross, like Kaito here just said! I'm gonna become the greatest Trainer ever." Cross sneered as he walked off, with his Pokémon following him.

"Cross! Hold on!" The newcomer, now known as Kaito said as he tried to go after the arrogant Trainer. But weak cries from Charmander stopped him from his tracks as both he and his Pokémon named Lycanroc both turned in surprise to see Charmander trying to go after Cross.

But due to the heavy rain pouring down on the Lizard Pokémon, Charmander couldn't move as he whimpered, before falling unconscious with his tail flame growing weaker and weaker! We all ran over to the poor Fire Type, with Ash calling to it first.

"Ah... Charmander!" Ash gasped as he held Charmander in his arms.

"Its flame is getting weaker! And if Charmander's flame goes out, then..." Verity started to say before Luna shook her head, not wanting to hear her friend say the word. Even with Verity not saying it, I knew what this meant for the poor Lizard Pokémon.

Ash seemed to understand as well before he turned to see both Cross and his Pokémon disappearing out of sight before Luna tried to get us to help it.

"Ash... Isamu... Verity... Please, we have to do something to help Charmander." Luna pleaded, his tone starting to crack as I frowned at her, before making a promise to her.

"Luna, it's going to be fine. We need to find some warm shelter so we could help Charmander get warm and healthy again." I said as Kaito stepped up, making his suggestion with Lycanroc at his side.

"I can show you guys the way. There's another person there using a cave for shelter. I'm sure he won't mind if four more comes to get dry." Kaito said, causing all of us to nod gratefully before he and Lycanroc led us the way. While we were following Kaito, Ash kept his jacket over Charmander's tail so it wouldn't die out.

Soon, we approached a cave where it seemed to be big for all of us to get in to get dry! But as Pikachu, Eevee, Piplup, and Lycanroc all shook themselves off to get the rainwater off of them, Pikachu and Eevee both noticed someone familiar ahead as they called out to us.

"Pika!?"

"Eevee!"

All of us except Kaito looked ahead to see... Sorrel and Lucario! At seeing us coming in, Sorrel quickly stood up and blinked before he noticed the weak Charmander in Ash's arms. Running over to it, he glared at little bro, concluding that he was the one to harm Charmander.

"You left it out in the rain!? What were you thinking!?" Sorrel snapped angrily until Kaito pushed Sorrel away, defending little bro as he spoke.

"Stop it, Sorrel. It isn't his fault! This Charmander was abandoned by an arrogant Trainer, causing this guy and his friends to save the little guy!" Kaito snapped back, causing Sorrel to calm down before he turned to Charmander, who was breathing weakly.

Nodding in understanding, he led us to where his Lucario was waiting by the fire.

Setting Charmander down on the dry blanket where it was near the fire, Sorrel got ready to make medicine to cure Charmander while Verity placed a warm, wet rag on top of Charmander's forehead, while Kaito and Luna watched to see this happen.

Ash and I on the other hand, stayed near the Lizard Pokémon with Eevee and Pikachu watching with us as Ash asked.

"Can you help...?" Ash asked hopefully. Sorrel kept his expression calm while he continued to make the medicine.

"That's what I'm trying to do..." Sorrel said as he began to mix up some ingredients that would help Charmander feel better. Piplup, Pikachu, and Eevee all cried out sadly, all worrying for Charmander. Lycanroc on the other hand, remained calm as he looked up at Kaito, as the boy just sighed.

"Tell me something... Was Charmander sitting on the rock while you were trying to find shelter?" Kaito asked, allowing Luna to answer.

"Yes... It was waiting for Cross to come back. Even while it was raining, Charmander refused to move from the spot where Cross told it to wait..." Luna said sadly as Sorrel narrowed his eyes.

"In that case, no Pokémon with that much loyalty is going to go untreated." Sorrel said as he prepared to give Charmander the medicine he needed to feel better.

"I know it's hard... But please, take this." Sorrel said as Ash helped him feed Charmander the medicine. It seemed to be working in progress as Charmander felt the taste as it winced from the bitterness as I watched.

"What was that medicine you fed it just now...?" I asked, allowing Sorrel to answer.

"It's a Pokémon medicine to make the cold go away. This should stabilize Charmander for a while. All we have to do now is to wait for it to recover." Sorrel explained as he felt Charmander's forehead for a moment before he sighed, taking another look at the Lizard Pokémon.

"Make sure it doesn't get cold..." Sorrel warned as Ash held it in his arms.

"I'll warm it up!" Ash said as he carefully held the Fire Type in his arms. As Ash held the poor Pokémon, Charmander stirred for a moment before he slowly woke up, to see Ash smiling at him brightly, before he comforted the little Fire Type.

"Don't worry, Charmander. You'll be just fine!" Ash said comfortingly, causing Charmander to slowly blink before it fell back asleep.

Once it slept, Ash carefully took off his wet jacket while handing Charmander to me for a moment as he took it off to keep himself from getting a cold. Kaito just sat next to Sorrel with Lycanroc at his side, his expression looking a bit annoyed.

I could only guess it was to due what Cross did to his former Fire Type Pokémon. Verity and Luna had taken their shoes off and let their hairs be released from their pigtails and their hair braids, letting their hairs be free.

As Ash cared for Charmander, he turned to Kaito, who remained annoyed for what the arrogant Trainer did before.

"Hey... I think that jerk said it before, but what was your name?" Ash asked, catching Kaito's attention as he regained his smile before he explained.

"Oh, right... My name is Kaito Shirogane. I'm from Melemele Island in the Alola region. And this here, is my second-in-command Pokémon named Lycanroc." Kaito explained, causing his Pokémon to bark with a smile.

"And, I'm sure you four know already, but the Trainer you just met... His name is Cross. And that Pokémon next to him before was also a Lycanroc." Kaito explained, causing me to frown as I turned to him, with a questioning look.

"His Pokémon is a Lycanroc, too? But why does yours and his look different from each other?" I asked as Ash blinked, having the same curiosity as I had, before I allowed Kaito to explain as he rubbed his Lycanroc's fur with a soft smile.

"The Lycanroc that was with Cross was its Midnight Form. The one I have with me is its Dusk Form." Kaito explained, leaving Luna to be confused as she was the next one to ask.

"Midnight Form and Dusk Form? So there are different forms of Lycanroc?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to nod before he explained again.

"That's right. There's a Pokémon in the Alola region called a Rockruff. Rockruff evolves, depending on what time it is. Should it be around daytime, it evolves into another form called the Midday Form. If it evolves around night, that's when it evolves into its Midnight Form."

"And finally, when it evolves around the times the sun starts to set, that's when Rockruff evolves into the Dusk Form? That's what happened to my Lycanroc when he evolved back in Alola." Kaito explained as he rubbed Lycanroc's fur, much to its content.

With the small lecture of the forms Lycanroc took, we all understood, although Sorrel seemed to understand more than the rest of us did as Verity smiled, before introducing herself as she didn't do before.

"Getting back to the introductions, I'm Verity! From Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region! And this is my partner, Piplup!"

"Pip Piplup!" Verity introduced herself brightly with Piplup introducing itself as well as Luna introduced herself, too.

"My name is Luna from Pewter City, here in the Kanto region. And..." Luna began before she took out a Pokéball. But before she could do anything, it opened itself suddenly, startling everyone as Arcanine appeared, before he quickly darted over to his Trainer, checking her to see if she was alright or not.

"Eek! Arcanine, calm down! I'm okay! I'm just a little wet from the rain, that's all!" Luna giggled as Arcanine sniffing her tickled her a little as I only watched in amusement. With Arcanine behaving like that and with how it behaved before, I could already tell Arcanine cares for Luna deeply, just like she cares for him back.

"I see that Arcanine is your partner..." Kaito chuckled as Ash introduced himself next.

"And I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, here in the Kanto region! And this is my buddy, Pikachu!"

"Pika Pikachu!" Ash introduced himself before Pikachu introduced himself as well, before I took my turn to explain.

"My name is Isamu Ketchum. And like Ash, I'm also from Pallet Town, here in the Kanto region. The two of us are brothers, actually. And this little girl here, she's Eevee." I explained, before holding Eevee close to me as Eevee cooed happily before she nuzzled onto my chest.

"It's nice to meet the four of you. I already met Sorrel and Lucario when I was coming here, so you can say we're acquainted together..." Kaito explained as I nodded to him, with Ash, Luna, and Verity understanding. Before I could speak, Luna spoke up as she realized something.

"Um, Kaito? You said that Lycanroc is your second-in-command Pokémon, right? Well then, who's your partner?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to blink before he gave a sheepish smile as he took out another Pokéball, this one being a Dive Ball.

"Didn't think you'd catch that. Come on, Bui! Meet everyone else!" Kaito called out as he sent out another Pokémon, who looked like an orange weasel! It shook its fur before it turned to see both Kaito and Lycanroc, before it let out a happy cry as it ran to Kaito's chest, rubbing its face onto its Trainer affectionately.

"This is Buizel, my best friend and my partner. Buizel, say hi to everyone else." Kaito explained, causing Buizel to nod and greet us and our Pokémon. Piplup, Eevee, and Pikachu all greeted him brightly, while Lucario and Arcanine all gave him nods, before introducing themselves to it.

"Whoa... Another Pokémon I've never seen before... Just like with Lucario, Piplup, and Lycanroc!" Ash admitted, causing me to realize that I've also never seen these Pokémon before in Kanto.

"That's because Pokémon like Lucario, Buizel, and Piplup are from the Sinnoh region, which is a different region from Kanto. As for Lycanroc, it's from the Alola region, which is also a different region from Kanto." Sorrel explained.

"I see... Well, that explains on why we couldn't know on what kind of Pokémon they were..." I said, admitting that I didn't know who they were at first, until their Trainers called their Pokémon by their names.

While the introduction and the explanation were finished, we waited for Charmander to recover. Soon, it was around an hour before the Lizard Pokémon started stirring up again before it woke up, seeing Ash first in its eyes.

"C-Char...?" Charmander called out weakly, causing Ash to smile before he comforted the little Fire Type.

"How do you feel? Are you still cold?" Ash asked, as Buizel, Pikachu, Eevee, and Piplup joined in, all trying to look out for the poor Lizard Pokémon.

"Charmander..." Charmander said weakly as it gave a small smile. Closing its eyes again, it fell back asleep as I moved over to little bro so that I could feel the condition of how Charmander was feeling. It wasn't colder than before, which could mean that recovery was going along great.

"It's not too cold anymore... I can guess that it's recovering okay so far." I said as Sorrel walked over to check Charmander's condition, before he felt the same feeling, too.

"Hm... Things are looking a lot better." Sorrel said before he walked back to where his Lucario was sitting. As he walked back, Ash thanked him for the treatment he gave to the little Fire Type.

"It's 'cause of you! Thanks a lot!" Ash said thankfully as Verity was reminded of what Sorrel was like.

"You're like Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center!" Verity complimented, causing Sorrel to chuckle before he explained of what he wanted to be and why he was traveling in Kanto at first.

"I'm hoping to become a Pokémon Professor. And you need medical training for that." Sorrel explained as he sat down, next to Kaito and Lucario before allowing us to understand on what his goal was.

"Wow..." was all little bro could say before Sorrel continued on.

While he was doing so, Piplup, Pikachu, Eevee, and Buizel were running around together, playing chase as they played near the fire to keep themselves warm from the cold they could feel later.

"Right now, I'm traveling all over, gathering data on Legendary Pokémon." Sorrel explained, amazing Luna as she realized on why Sorrel was battling Entei.

"I see... So, was that the reason why you and Lucario tried to battle Entei? In order to gather data from it?" Luna asked, earning a nod from Sorrel.

"Of course! It was a priceless experience!" Sorrel explained before he turned to the two girls, asking Verity first about her reason for traveling.

"By the way... why did you come here, Verity? You're a long way from home." Sorrel asked, causing me to realize on what he meant. Verity was from Twinleaf Town of the Sinnoh region, so this would mean Sorrel would know where it is since he's from the Sinnoh region also.

At the question, Verity just blinked in surprise before she began to smile nervously, before she made her story short.

"Ah ha ha... It's a long story!" Verity said nervously, causing Sorrel to blink before he understood. He turned to Luna, wanting to hear her story of why she was traveling.

"I see... What about you, Luna? Why are you traveling? Pewter City may be in the same region that you're traveling in right now, but you're still a bit far from home. Why is that?" Sorrel asked. At his question, Arcanine began to look down and grumble a little, while Luna bit her lips and sighed.

"I... don't want to talk about it. All I can say is... it had to do something with my father." Luna explained, causing all of us to frown at her, before we understood that it wasn't a good memory for Luna to remember, before Verity quickly turned to Kaito.

"W-Well, in that case! Kaito, what about you? Why are you traveling in the Kanto region when Alola is your home region?" Verity asked as Kaito smiled before he explained.

"Well... To be honest, I wanted to come to the Kanto region to study what kind of Pokémon they were in this region. But when I heard about a Pokémon League Tournament coming up in this region, I decided to take part of it." Kaito explained, causing Ash to be excited as he showed his three Badges to Kaito.

"Whoa, really!? Big bro and I are entering the tournament, too! We both have three Badges! How many do you have?" Ash asked, allowing Kaito to show his Gym Badges.

"I have the same number as you and your brother. Although, I started out awkwardly..." Kaito explained before he scratched the back of his head. That left all of us curious as Verity was the one to ask.

"Awkwardly? How is that?" Verity asked.

"Well, you see..." Kaito started to say before he took out something from his bag. Out in his hands was... a crown!

"Is that... a crown!?" Verity gasped as Sorrel turned to Kaito with a disbelieving look.

"But that would mean you're part of a..." Sorrel started to say, before Kaito finished it for him.

"Yes... I'm part of a royal family. I'm supposed to be the Prince, somewhere in the Alola region." Kaito said with a sigh, leaving all of us bewildered and amazed. Lycanroc only gave his Trainer a sheepish look while Buizel rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"You're... a Prince!?" Ash exclaimed, causing Kaito give a sheepish smile and nod.

"Yep... Guilty as charged." Kaito said sheepishly, leaving all of us speechless before I spoke again, losing my surprised expression.

"Hold on, if you're a Prince of the royal family, then why are you here in the Kanto region? Your mother and father actually allowed you to leave your home region and come here to travel?" I asked, wanting to know what his parents were thinking.

"Yes... To be honest, I was kind of hesitant to ask them about it first, since I still had my royal duties as a Prince, living inside a palace." Kaito explained as he recalled the times whenever he was younger, as he was timid to ask his parents about his dream.

"But... when I finally told my family and the servants about my wish, they all just laughed! They said they knew this whole time that I wanted to go out and have adventure..."

"It made me realize on how small I was. I didn't have the courage to ask them when I was younger, but when I become the age that I get to go out, I began to regret that I never asked them when I was younger..." Kaito explained sheepishly.

"Bu bui..." "Lyc..." Both Buizel and Lycanroc spoke to Kaito softly, as I felt they were trying to comfort their Trainer.

"Wow... I guess this meant you never knew that your parents would be perfectly okay with you going out..." Luna said, as she slowly seemed to understand on how Kaito was feeling about his parents.

"Yeah... I thought they would go against me for my wishes to travel, but for them to say yes so easily... it made me feel a bit awkward..." Kaito admitted before he shook his head as he turned to the Ketchum Brothers.

"Well... I told you guys my part of the story. You two are the only ones that need to explain on why you're traveling on a journey together." Isamu said, causing Ash to grin as I allowed little bro to speak our dreams for us.

"Us? We want to become the world's greatest Pokémon Masters!" Ash declared, catching the others by surprise with Verity asking.

"Masters? You mean, the world's best Trainers?" Verity asked, allowing me to answer with a shaking head.

"To be honest, we kind of want to be more than just best Trainers... Something bigger than that, to be honest." I explained, causing Luna to giggle a little while Sorrel gave a chuckle at our dreams of wanting to become the best.

Kaito just gave an amused smile while Verity just smiled sheepishly. But as we were enjoying our time speaking with one another, we all felt the wind picking up, causing some of us to shiver from the sudden cold breeze.

"Brr...! It's so cold!" Verity said, shivering as she rubbed her arms. Arcanine nuzzled Luna, allowing Luna to smile and feel the warmth from her protector's fur. Kaito shook a little bit while Ash on the other hand, gave a little sneeze!

"A-A-ACHOO!" Ash sneezed, catching my attention as I gave him a sheepish look.

"You okay, little bro? Looks like you're starting to catch a cold, like Charmander did..." I said sheepishly, before I began to feel serious. With the rainstorm picking up, cold breeze will get in the cave more easily, which could be a problem to all six of us and our Pokémon.

"It's okay, big bro! That was nothing!" Ash said, trying to reassure that he was fine. Pikachu only blinked as he ran over to Ash, nuzzling at his side to keep him warm. Little bro just smiled, feeling grateful for his best friend's attempt to help.

Eevee quickly came to my side too, jumping into my chest before she cuddled onto it! I could only smile on how cute and sweet she looked for being affectionate as I embraced her, causing Eevee to relax with my touch and care.

"Trying to warm me up? Thanks, Pikachu..."

"You're sweet, Eevee. Thanks."

Piplup ran over to Verity as we thanked our partners for trying Tom comfort us with warm as Buizel ran over to Kaito and Lycanroc. The two looked like they were trying to do the same like what Pikachu and Eevee were trying to do!

"Thanks, Piplup!"

"Thanks, Bui."

As the two thanked their Water Types for their attempts, Sorrel took out a Pokéball, before trying to call his Lucario back with it.

"As a precaution, you're going back in your Pokéball. We shouldn't let the Pokémon spend the night out in the cold." Sorrel said, as he returned his partner back. Both Kaito and Verity saw this before they tried to do the same with their Pokémon.

"You're right... You too, Piplup!"

"Sorry, Buizel. Lycanroc. You two need to go back in as well."

Their three Pokémon were called back as Luna tried to do the same, only to see Arcanine shaking his head before he nudged her cheek again, causing her to giggle at both his refusal and his affection.

"Arcanine..." Luna could only say as both Ash and I took out our partners' Pokéballs, too. The thing was, just like with Pikachu... Eevee didn't like going inside her Pokéball either, which made me decide to not return her to her ball at all, unless if it was an emergency.

"The thing is... I'd like to do that, but Pikachu really can't stand getting into his Pokéball. Right, buddy?" Ash asked, earning a shaking head from his best friend.

"The same goes for Eevee. She doesn't like the Pokéball either, so I don't force her into one unless if it's a real emergency. Isn't that right, girl?" I asked, causing Eevee to coo in response before she shook her head, proving my words correct.

"I don't think Arcanine wants to go in, either... Ever since we left home together, he's always been protective of me... So much that he doesn't even want to go in. The last time he went in was because of me panicking..." Luna explained sheepishly.

The Legendary Pokemon growled softly in response before he nuzzled her little girl affectionately once again.

But as soon as the theee of us showed Verity, Sorrel, and Kaito that our Pokémon didn't like going inside their Pokéballs, their Pokéballs suddenly opened to show Lucario, Piplup, Buizel, and Lycanroc all coming out to be with their Trainers!

"No, you'll catch a cold!" Verity protested while Sorrel tried to convince his partner.

"It's for the best." Sorrel tried to say, only to receive a shake of head from the Aura Pokémon.

"You know that you two aren't safe out right now, don't you?" Kaito asked, before he received a nuzzle on the nose from Buizel's nose while Lycanroc nuzzled its... rocky collar onto Kaito's neck, causing him to flinch a little before he chuckled.

"All right, fine..." Kaito said, sighing before his smile grew a little.

"Lucario..." Sorrel started to say before his Pokémon shook his head again, showing that he wanted to stay out with Sorrel. Piplup did the same with Verity, causing her to smile at her partner.

"Hm... All right..." Verity giggled while Sorrel sighed.

Despite their reluctance, the three of them all decided to let their Pokémon sleep even with the cold wind blowing. While Ash and I watched the three get along with their Pokémon, we both felt Eevee and Pikachu comforting us again, as they tried to give us some warmth too with their bodies.

 **Later...**

The six of us were all fast asleep with our Pokémon together. But while we were sleeping, we heard some noise coming from outside. Awakening at the noise, we all saw a big surprise. It was Entei coming in from the rain! But it wasn't just Entei... there were other small wild Pokémon coming in with the Legendary Pokémon.

We all watched Entei walk past us as Entei just gazed at us before it provided warmth for the little wild Pokémon that really needed it.

"Seeing the fearsome forces of nature, people and Pokémon are the same..." Sorrel stated, with both Luna and Verity agreeing with him.

"Yeah..."

"I can see that you're right..."

Sorrel smiled, before turning to the five of us with surprising information, as he mentioned the Pokémon that Ash and I both know about, since we saw Ho-Oh together on our first day on the journey together.

"There's a legend, that proclaims that Ho-Oh gave life to Entei." Sorrel explained, causing Ash to widen his eyes as his curiosity allowed him to ask.

"You mean it!?" Ash asked, causing Sorrel to nod. With that done, he began to explain to the five of us of the legend of Ho-Oh and how Entei was born, along with two more Legendary Pokémon that was born besides it.

"You see... around 150 years ago, there was a magnificent bell tower. And this bell tower made it possible for humans to actually make contact with Ho-Oh. But, lightning struck the tower, engulfing it in flames..."

"Suddenly, a great rain came down and the flames were extinguished. But three nameless Pokémon succumbed to the inferno. Amidst the destruction, Ho-Oh descended and bestowed life upon them once again! And they revived..."

"They represented the lightning that struck... the flame that engulfed... and the water that extinguished the tower. Three natural forces made flesh! Raikou, Entei, and Suicune..." Sorrel explained. At finishing his tale, he showed all of us the pictures of the three Legendary Pokémon that Ho-Oh had given life to.

"Oh... I just love Suicune...!" Verity commented as Luna took a closer look at the three pictures before she looked back at Entei.

"Oh wow... So, I guess all of us have now seen the Pokémon that represents the flame that engulfed the bell tower..." Luna said as Entei opened its eyes, gazing at us, causing Luna to flinch before she became calm again.

"I didn't think it was possible for a Pokémon to revive into a Legendary Pokémon. But, now that I'm seeing Entei with my own eyes, I... don't know what else to say." Kaito admitted as he folded his arms, while Sorrel searched something else up for all of us to see.

"And this is the Pokémon that guards over their existences... Ho-Oh." Sorrel said as he showed us the picture of it. Both Ash and I gasped as Ash ran over to where his wet jacket was.

"Ah!" Ash gasped as I widened my eyes in surprise. At seeing our reactions, Verity blinked in surprise before she asked.

"You two seen it?" Verity asked, as Ash explained.

"The first day big bro and I started on our journey together!" Ash exclaimed, shocking both Kaito and Sorrel as Sorrel was the one to ask.

"Are you serious!?" Sorrel asked as I stood up, remembering the time when Ho-Oh came to our sight.

"Yeah... It's as if we saw a miracle on the day we began our journey together. It was also the same time when Pikachu and Eevee both saved us from a flock of angry Spearow during a rainstorm." I explained, causing Kaito to blink before he turned to me.

"A rainstorm...? Was there a rainbow after that?" Kaito asked, as Ash made the answer.

"Yeah! And as soon as we both saw Ho-Oh, this came floating down!" Ash explained. He revealed the feather Ho-Oh had given us, shocking Sorrel and Kaito again, while surprising both Luna and Verity as the feather was revealed.

"No way! You two got the Rainbow Wing!?" Sorrel gasped. Verity and Luna both turned to him in confusion while Kaito just stood up in amazement, with Buizel and Lycanroc following his reaction.

Entei on the other hand, just gave another glance at us as it witnessed Ash taking out the Rainbow Wing from his jacket. It looked interested at seeing one of the feathers that came from its savior.

"What's the Rainbow Wing?" Verity asked, still confused.

"Few people have ever seen Ho-Oh. And on rare occasions, Ho-Oh is said to bestow a feather on a human or two it particularly likes!" Sorrel explained, causing both me and Ash to look at each other, before I made the question to Sorrel.

"So, what you're saying... is that Ho-Oh didn't drop the Rainbow Wing by accident, but gave it to us because it likes us? Why would that be...?" I asked, causing Sorrel to frown before he tried to think of an explanation.

"There's a legend that explains it. It says there's a Rainbow Hero, who is led by the Rainbow Wing to seek out Ho-Oh." Sorrel explained, causing Ash and I to both look at the Rainbow Wing that Ho-Oh had given us, with Luna repeating of what Sorrel said just now.

"A Rainbow Hero... but it gave both Ash and Isamu the Rainbow Wing, didn't it? Wouldn't that make it two Rainbow Heroes if the legend is true?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to answer this time, as he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Well, that could be it... but I don't think I've ever heard of a Legendary Pokémon liking two humans instead of one..." Kaito said as he looked at the two of us.

"I'm sure it's one of you two... that is, if my words are true." Kaito said, causing the two of us to look back at each other again before we frowned together. Then, Ash regained his smile before he spoke.

"I don't know about any of this, but it looks cool!" Ash commented, causing Verity to give him an amused look.

"Oh? Impressed with yourself, are you now?" Verity asked coolly, causing little bro to give a sheepish smile.

"Ah ha ha... Whoops!" Ash chuckled as I smiled at him. For me, it didn't matter whether Ho-Oh gave either Ash or me the Rainbow Wing, or if it chose the both of us. If it was up to me, I would leave the Rainbow Wing to Ash, since he seems to show more care to Pokémon than I do.

While Ash cares more about bonding, I on the other hand, care more about...

Huh... What do I care about more? I mean, I care about Eevee a lot, especially since she's my best Pokémon friend. But there's also Dratini, who's also one of my Pokémon in the team. If Ash has something to care about, what do I care about more...?

Later, the six of us were all asleep, with our Pokémon sleeping besides us again. While I was sleeping, I heard some strange noises coming from both near me and Ash. Moving a little, I groggily opened my eyes a little to see... some strange figure gazing at Ash for some reason!

Then, when it turned to me, I quickly shut my eyes close again, before feeling the presence going away. What was that just now? A Pokémon? But if it was, then what kind? From what I've seen, I don't think I've ever seen this Pokémon. Was it another one that comes from another region? Or was it a special kind of Pokémon?

I didn't know what to think about, so I just fell back asleep, hoping to think about it more tomorrow when the sun is up again.

The next morning...

Sunlight came down to the cave, allowing all of us to wake up! Pikachu and Eevee were the first ones as they perked their ears up before they opened their eyes to see sunlight! They called to us, causing the two of us to be awake!

"Pika Pika!"

"Eev! Eevee!"

"Piplup..."

Piplup yawned while awakening itself as Verity did the same by stretching her arms a little. Luna slowly woke herself up, before getting off of Arcanine's back, as the Legendary Pokémon yawned loudly before waking up to see daylight shining into the cave.

Kaito rubbed his eyes to wake himself up while Buizel stretched his orange, furry arms. Lycanroc yawned before it woke itself up as it shook its fur a little. Sorrel and Lucario seemed to be awake by the time all of us were.

"Morning, Piplup! Sleep well?" Verity asked, earning a cheerful "Pip!" from her Water Type Pokémon.

But Buizel gave us a call, causing all of us to turn to where Entei and the other wild Pokémon were. At seeing them not there where they were, Ash was the first to speak up, noticing their absence.

"Entei and its friends are gone!" Ash exclaimed, with Sorrel nodding in agreement.

"I guess this means that Entei went back to where it usually does... Roaming around the lands while helping other wild and innocent Pokémon out..." Kaito grunted as he stretched his arms a little.

While we gazed at the spot where the Legendary Fire Type used to be, we all heard a groaning voice coming from our Lizard Pokémon friend. It was Charmander! It started to wake up, at seeing that there was light.

"Hey, Charmander! You feeling better?" Ash asked, feeling happy to see the little Fire Type feeling well.

"Charm! Charmander!" Charmander said happily, before it gave Ash a big smile on its face, showing how thankful it was for the rescue that Ash, Luna, Verity, and I had done together.

"Let's see... Your tail flame looks good!" Sorrel said as Charmander blinked, before he showed his tail flame to Sorrel. The six of us could see that the flame was burning great, showing that Charmander's health was fully restored, thanks to the recovery from last night.

"Yep! That tells me you are back to feeling fine! You're good to go!" Sorrel chuckled with a smile.

"Oh, that's such a relief. You don't know how much you worried us last night when it looked like your tail flame was about to die out..." Luna said happily as she knelt down to the Lizard Pokémon's level, earning a soft smile from the little Fire Type.

"Isn't that great, Charmander?" Ash asked, earning a happy "Charmander" from the Lizard Pokémon.

I knelt down next to Ash, before facing the little Fire Type that was formerly Cross'.

"Look... Are you sure you're feeling okay? Do you... remember what Cross did to you back before?" I asked, causing Charmander to blink before his happy face turned upside down, causing him to feel sad about what his former Trainer did to him during the rainstorm yesterday.

Ash could only smile and offer Charmander a second chance at traveling with another Trainer.

"Hey... You want to come along with us? I'd like us to become good friends! Come on, please?" Ash asked, trying to offer Charmander another chance to prove himself again. Remembering what Cross had done before, Charmander began to think before it smiled at Ash, giving him a nod.

"Char...mander!"

"Great! You really mean it?" Ash asked brightly, feeling joy as Charmander nodded, this time with a big smile.

"Charmander!" Charmander cried out happily as I watched. Little bro was making a new friend already, thanks to the effort he did to try and help his new Fire Type friend last night. We all watched as Ash took out a new Pokéball, before he offered it to the Lizard Pokémon.

"Okay! Here goes!" Ash exclaimed. He showed the ball to his new teammate, as Charmander grinned before he gave a headbutt to the ball, allowing him to be captured as Ash cheered for his new friend and teammate to battle with together.

"Yeah! I caught a Charmander!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

Both Ash and Pikachu cheered to have a new friend around as the rest of us watched the two of them celebrate together, with Verity and I congratulating him for gaining a new friend to journey with together.

"Congratulations, Ash! You too, Pikachu!" Verity giggled.

"Congrats, little bro. I'm sure you'll be a better Trainer for Charmander than how Cross did it." I said, causing little bro to grin back at me with a peace sign.

"You know I will, big bro!" Ash called out, with Pikachu climbing onto his shoulder before he called out his agreement.

"Pika Pikachu!"

Later, all of us got ready to hit back onto the road where we left the cave to see an amazing sight in front of our eyes.

"Ah... It's a rainbow!" Ash called out, sounding amazed with how beautiful the sight looked, thanks to the rainbow shining in the sky.

"It looks so beautiful... I guess that's one good thing the rain did last night." Luna said softly, feeling joy as I smiled, understanding on how she felt before I spoke.

"Yeah... I think you're right about that." I said, as Sorrel spoke about the legend of the Rainbow Wing again, this time with new information.

"They say that Ho-Oh lives at the end of the rainbow!" Sorrel explained, allowing us to enjoy the sight more until Kaito noticed something weird coming from little bro.

"Um, Ash? Is that the Rainbow Wing glowing on your jacket?" Kaito asked, causing all of us to turn and see something glowing on Ash's jacket. Taking it out, Ash widened his eyes to see that it was indeed the Rainbow Wing making the glow as he took it out for all of us to see.

With the glow happening right now, was it a sign that it was trying to lead us into something?

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 4: Cross' Conviction! Ash's Despair!?**

 **Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For**

 **Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights**

 **Chapter 8: The Bond to Make a Miracle**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash, Isamu, Luna, and Verity meets Cross and Kaito

\- Ash recruits a Charmander abandoned by Cross

\- Isamu and Ash journeys with Verity, Kaito, Luna, and Sorrel


	4. Cross' Conviction! Ash's Despair?

**Chapter 4: C** **ross' Conviction! Ash's Despair!?**

 **Ash's POV**

Last chapter, Luna, Verity, Isamu, and I were escaping from a wild Onix that we accidentally woken up from its nap. When we managed to get away with me calming Onix down, it suddenly started to rain... It's just like what that guy... Sorrel, was it? It's like what he said!

So when the four of us searched for shelter together, we came across a sad Charmander, who seemed to be suffering from the rain, since he was a Fire Type Pokémon. It was some jerk who called himself the strongest Pokémon Trainer! His name was Cross.

He left Charmander there because he believed that Charmander was too weak for battle, causing him to just abandon him like that! It's just wrong, isn't it!? As we tried to talk some sense into Cross, we met a new friend named Kaito, with his two Pokémon: Buizel and Lycanroc.

The four of us also reunited with Sorrel, who managed to use his medicine and skills to help make Charmander feel better. Once Charmander was starting to get better, big bro and I learned more about the Rainbow Wing, and how we can use it to meet up with Ho-Oh again...

With the day coming by, things couldn't have gotten better! Charmander was perfectly fine again and I just made a new friend in my team! Next stop, is the mountain where we could find Ho-Oh, so big bro and I could battle it together!

* * *

"Ah... It's a rainbow!" I called out, as I was able to see how beautiful the rainbow looked, even with where we're standing at.

"It looks so beautiful... I guess that's one good thing the rain did last night." Luna said softly, feeling joy as I noticed to see big bro smile at her, which seemed to show that he understood on how she felt about the sight.

"Yeah... I think you're right about that." Isamu spoke out, as Sorrel told us about the legend of the Rainbow Wing again, this time with new information.

"They say that Ho-Oh lives at the end of the rainbow!" Sorrel explained, allowing us to enjoy the sight more until Kaito noticed something weird coming from me as he called to me.

"Um, Ash? Is that the Rainbow Wing glowing on your jacket?" Kaito asked, causing all of us to turn and see something glowing on my jacket. Taking it out, I couldn't help but widen his eyes to see that it was indeed the Rainbow Wing making the glow as he took it out for all of us to see.

"Whoa..." Kaito breathed out as I couldn't disagree with him. I think all of us were in awe, as even our Pokémon were amazed to see it glow right in front of our eyes.

"The legend... says that the Rainbow Wing will guide you!" Sorrel explained, causing me to hold it up.

"So... What's over that way?" I asked Sorrel, which allowed him to explain more.

"There are quite a number of steep mountains over there... the Raizen Mountain Range..." Sorrel said, as he showed all of us where Ho-Oh might be with his device. At seeing the Rainbow Wing still glowing in front of my eyes, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

"I know! I'm gonna meet Ho-Oh and have a Pokémon battle with it!" I declared, feeling the energy and determination pump into my body! Big bro was the first to react in surprise before he smiled.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, before he corrected me.

"You mean WE'RE going to have a battle with Ho-Oh together, little bro. Remember... Ho-Oh gave this Rainbow Wing for us to use together. So it has to mean Ho-Oh is asking for the both of us to come to it..." Isamu explained, catching my attention.

"You really think so, big bro?" I asked, wanting to make sure.

"I know so, little brother..." Isamu said, before he pulled my hat down teasingly.

"Hey..." I mumbled before I pouted at the playfulness big bro was showing me. The others just watched in amusement while Luna and Kaito chuckled together.

"I'd love to meet Ho-Oh, too!" Verity cried out, sounding excited like I was.

"We've seen Entei today... but I'd like to see the Pokémon that helped Entei and the other Legendary Beasts resurrect." Luna said softly, as Arcanine barked out, which sounded like he agreed with what Luna said.

"So would I! Then, I can determine myself whether the legend of the Rainbow Heroes is actually true!" Sorrel said, as he sounded eager to meet our future opponent.

"The Pokémon that brought life to the Legendary Beasts with its powers... I'd like to see it too, so I can see what Ho-Oh is truly like!" Kaito added, with his hands turning into fists of excitement.

I turned to big bro, who just nodded at me, causing me to grin and run ahead to take the lead!

"Come on! We've got to get moving and find Ho-Oh!" I shouted out, before I raised the Rainbow Wing high in the air.

"Right!"

"Yes!"

"Pika!"

"Eevee!"

"Piplup!"

"Bu bui!"

The girls and our Pokémon friends chattered out their agreement with me as the six of us set off to head to where the Raizen Mountain Range was...

But first...

"YEE-HAW!" I yelled as I jumped into the water with my swimsuit on.

I guess... you can tell that all of us decided to have some fun with a lake nearby first. Verity, Luna, Kaito, and I were all having fun swimming around in the water, with Pikachu, Buizel, and Piplup joining us!

Big bro like always, stayed on the dry land to groom Eevee's fur. Sorrel and Lucario just watched us while Sorrel studied over something with the books he brought with him. Arcanine and Lycanroc didn't join us since they were weak to water.

 **A few days later...**

After our quick swim and relaxation, the six of us continued our way to head for the Mountain Range. Days passed by while we were trying to get there. But one day, on the way there, we encountered a wild Pinsir, that seemed to be a strong opponent to catch or to beat!

But for today, I was going for catching it with the help of my fellow Bug Type friend of mine.

"A Bug Type against a Bug Type, yeah! Caterpie, I choose you!" I shouted out. My little Bug Type friend came out of his Pokéball, eager to battle! My choice didn't go well with both Kaito and Luna as they flinched at my choice.

"Excuse me...? Talk about a size difference..." Kaito commented as he didn't seem to like where this was going. Sorrel, Verity, and big bro didn't say anything. Maybe it's because they knew what I was doing with Caterpie out?

"Okay, Caterpie! Use String Shot!" I called out. Pinsir was ready to charge with a Vice Grip attack, only for Caterpie to counter by binding the big guy with his strong String Shot attack! With Pinsir trapped, Caterpie was able to throw the big Bug Type off of its track!

"Alright... Huh?" Just as I was celebrating for Caterpie's victory, Caterpie started to glow all of a sudden! Sorrel called it out as he recognized that light.

"It's evolving!" Sorrel pointed out as we all watched Caterpie change into something completely different!

"It turned into a Metapod!" I shouted out excitedly. The others were amazed with what happened just now. Big bro on the other hand, was more impressed than amazed and surprised as he and the others watched me run over to my newly evolved Pokémon.

But just as I held Metapod in my arms, Luna noticed our opponent making its quick retreat, despite of the struggle it was having with the String Shot Metapod shot out when it was still a Caterpie.

"Pinsir's getting away!" Luna called out. But that didn't matter. All it mattered was that Metapod had grown stronger because of evolving. That's what matters to me the most today!

"That's okay! This is what it counts! Congratulations, Metapod!" I exclaimed as I hugged my newly evolved friend. Metapod just responded with its call, although it looked happy. Pikachu danced around, happy for his little friend evolving into a hard friend!

 **That night...**

 **Isamu's POV**

Night soon came when we continued our travels after Ash's Caterpie evolved into a Metapod. A little more training and later, it would be a Butterfree!

After enjoying the little supper the six of us had together, we were all fast asleep. But as we were sleeping, I somehow felt a few presences gone as I slowly opened my eyes several times to see...

"Kaito? Luna? Verity...?" I was a little surprised to see the three of them gone as I yawned before I tried to search for our three friends. I didn't have to far, since Kaito and Verity were together near the lake.

They seemed to be watching something together from Verity's phone...

But if they were doing that, then where was Luna? I looked around, only to see her at another part of the edge of the lake. Frowning to see how she looked, I carefully walked over to her, only to see tears glistening from her eyes.

"Luna...? Is everything alright?" I called to her silently, enough to let her hear as she turned to me in surprise.

"Isamu..." was all Luna could say before she slowly shook her head before she started to sob.

"L-Luna?" I called to her again before I sat next to her, seeing her cry a little. Wanting to comfort her a little, I gave her what I call it, a "side-hug". Luna seemed to have felt it as she just laid her head on my shoulder, her crying slowly coming to a stop.

All that was left of her was sniffles as she rubbed her eyes and nose to stop herself from crying.

"Will you tell me what's wrong? Why were you crying just now?" I asked, causing Luna to bite her lips before she slowly started to explain.

"I just... woke up from a terrible nightmare. The nightmare of... my... my father." Luna said, catching my attention as I narrowed my eyes.

"Your... father? What about him?" I asked, before Luna explained.

"Ever since I was born... my mother died when she gave birth to me... My father claimed to have loved her a lot. But... when she died... he blamed everything on me, believing that I killed her since I was born when she died..." Luna said, causing me to widen my eyes in horror.

"Your father is crazy to think like that! You were just an infant, unaware of the pain that your mother was enduring! Your father should've at least be relieved that you were okay, instead of blaming you when she... passed away." I started to say as I tried to reassure her that the fault was not hers.

At my weak counterargument, Luna slowly shook her head before she continued on.

"Try telling that to that man... He won't listen to a thing anybody says to him ever since my mother died. He would lash out at anyone, even going far by using violence to silence them..." Luna said weakly as I sighed.

I don't remember my dad much since Ash and I were very young when he left. Mom said that he left to go on a Pokémon journey so that he would become a Pokémon Master, like Ash and I wanted to become.

But ever since he left, we haven't heard much about him... There were no reports of someone dying or going missing, so it had to be a sign that he was alive and fine. It just... unnerved me to not hear of him again after years passed by.

As I was thinking that, Luna continued on with her story about her past.

"Then... there was one day when my father did the unthinkable. He tried to kill Arcanine, who was once a Growlithe. He belonged to Mom at first, until she entrusted my safety to him... Growlithe got hurt bad, but he managed to get away safely..."

"My father... he was a man that didn't deserve to be called a father. He lived on with a violent attitude and expression, hurting those that seemed to be a nuisance to him... even me... I always began to have nightmares of him even after I ran away from him..."

"Growlithe and I got together again after two years when we were separated... so we took residence in the Pewter City orphanage, since I couldn't call that man my father anymore and since my mother died..." Luna continued on with her story before I sighed.

"And that's how you got to this point, right? You didn't expect to make any human friends since that traumatic experience made you wary of them. You were only able to trust Arcanine since you two were like family to one another..." I concluded, catching her by surprise.

I turned to her with a serious expression before I tried to explain on what she could do to forget the horrible experience she had to go through.

"If you really want to forget about the terrible past you had to go through, then make new memories... like the memories that we shared together so far. Make lots of fun and adventurous memories... That way, you wouldn't even have to think about those terrible times..." I said to her seriously.

Widening her eyes at my suggestion, Luna could only frown before she gave a slow nod in agreement.

"I can try, but... I just know it won't be easy..." Luna said sadly.

"You'll just have to pull through it, then. We can help, Luna. Ash, Sorrel, Verity, Kaito... and me. All of us can help you gain new memories to replace your old and painful ones." I reassured with a smile.

Luna could only gaze at me, with tears threatening to flow out of her eyes. Then, with her face turning a little red, she nodded to my words gratefully.

"Thank you... Isamu..." Luna said before she gave me a small hug, causing me to hug her back to comfort her.

Just as the moment seemed to last longer than we thought, I felt another presence that was near us, causing me to pull back. Luna watched me in confusion before the two of us turned to where that presence was.

"Oh gosh..." Luna gaped in surprise.

I couldn't blame her. I too, was surprised with what I was seeing in front of my eyes.

 **Kaito's POV**

Luna and Verity were out of their sleeping bags by the time I woke up, aware of the two going missing suddenly. I carefully stood straight, careful to not wake Buizel or Lycanroc from their peaceful sleep.

I yawned a little before I slowly looked around to see Luna at one side at the edge of the lake, with Verity at the other side. The girls... they seemed to be pondering over something... but what?

Wanting to know what they were thinking about, I headed over to Verity first, silently sitting next to her while she scrolled around something with her phone.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, causing Verity to turn to me in surprise before she sighed in relief.

"Don't do that... You almost made me drop my phone in the lake... and with all the memories that I managed to capture here..." Verity said before she showed me what she was looking over.

I blinked, recognizing them as photos of what the six of us adventured in. There were pictures of us going through a big city... pictures of Ash and Isamu posing together with all their Pokémon piling up to their arms and their heads.

There were even pictures of us having lunch together with Isamu and Sorrel helping each other make the dishes and meals for us to enjoy. Even all our Pokémon seemed to enjoy the Pokémon food that were given to them to eat.

Finally, Verity scrolled to one last picture that showed a woman with an Empoleon. She seemed to feeding a Piplup, which I could assume belonged to Verity before she began her journey in the Kanto region.

"Is that...?" I started to ask, causing Verity to sigh and answer my question.

"Yes... this is my Mom. I took a picture of this before I began my journey. She was a powerful Pokémon Trainer. Hardly any other Trainers were able to beat her. I loved her deeply when we were together, but..." Verity started to say, before she stopped.

"But...?" I asked, wanting to know what made her stop. As I asked, Verity gave a deep sigh.

"We... I... I left my home so I could begin my journey here in the Kanto region. Since my Mom was a respected Pokémon Trainer, living up to everyone's expectations, I felt... weird. I felt like I couldn't live up to her expectations, so I came here with Piplup to try and become stronger together." Verity explained.

I remained silent, coming to an understanding why Verity came here in Kanto instead of traveling in her home region, which was the Sinnoh region.

"But maybe... I might've gone a bit over my head, especially since my battle with Ash caused a wild Onix to chase and attack us, with Isamu and Luna being dragged into the chase..." Verity sighed before she shook her head.

"I don't think your Mom would expect anything less of you, you know?" I said plainly, catching Verity by surprise as she turned to me.

"What do you mean...?" she asked, as I explained.

"Remember when I told you that I didn't have the courage to tell my family about my dreams to go on a journey? I'm sure that your Mom understood how you felt when you thought that you couldn't live up to her expectations, like when my parents understood how I felt about my lack of courage to ask them."

"It's like this... You may think no one can understand you at all when they don't tell you directly, but... if you truly think that, then you really don't know what those people were thinking... Just like how you think of your Mom. There's a chance that you couldn't understand her true thoughts and feelings..."

"...and maybe that's why you came to a conclusion like you said just now." I explained thoroughly. Although it seemed to be a bit complicating, it seemed to make sense since I couldn't understand how my parents felt about my wish to go out.

Verity on the other hand, didn't seem to understand her mother so well, since she probably never had the courage to ask her on she felt about her.

Verity could only watch me with widened eyes at my explanation before she turned back to the photo that still had her Mom, Empoleon, and Verity's Piplup.

"Yeah... Maybe you're right. Maybe I couldn't tell what my Mom really thought of me... which could be the reason why I'm here right now." Verity spoke out before she turned off the phone.

Her frown slowly turned into a smile before she glanced at me as she looked grateful for what I said to her.

"Thanks, Kaito." was all she could say, causing me to smile back at her.

Before I could say anything back to her, I felt something near us as a small breeze caught my attention. It seemed to have caught Verity's attention too, as she turned to see where the lake was as well.

To our surprise, we couldn't believe what we were seeing.

 **End POV**

Isamu stood up in surprise to see another one of the Legendary Beasts standing near him.

"It's... Suicune." Isamu breathed out as Luna stood up, as she too, was surprised with what she was seeing, too.

On the other side, both Kaito and Verity gazed at the Water Type that gazed at Isamu and Luna first, before it gazed at the two of them next.

"It's Suicune... A Legendary Beast just like Entei..." Kaito commented while Verity remained silent. To her, she couldn't believe on what she was seeing with her very own eyes.

The four Trainers all gazed at the Water Type, as Suicune gazed at them back, with no expression of wanting to cause harm or trouble.

 **The next morning...**

 **Ash's POV**

"Really? Suicune?" I was surprised to hear that Verity, Luna, Kaito, and big bro all saw Suicune with their very own eyes! Even Sorrel looked dumbfounded when he and I discovered of what the four of them saw last night while we were asleep.

"Standing right in front of us!" Verity exclaimed as I pouted. I couldn't believe that they were able to see Suicune, while I was knocked out in my sleep!

"Man... I wish I could've been there!" I wished, as big bro just pulled my cap down again to show his affection and teasing.

"You know what they say, little brother... You win some, you lose some. You were able to see Entei at least, remember?" Isamu reminded me, as I pouted at him. Well yeah, that's easy for him to say...

Sorrel and I weren't the only ones that saw Entei in front of our eyes. Big bro and the others were able to see Entei, too! And the first time we saw Entei was when we tried to capture it in a battle, although Kaito wasn't with us at that time.

"Mm... Our eyes met. And it was like, time stopped. Yeah... We were so connected." Verity spoke out until Kaito gave her a reminder that she wasn't the only one to see Suicune.

"You mean it was connected to all of us, since the four of us all saw it together at that night..." Kaito reminded, causing Verity to stick out her tongue playfully before I noticed her face turning back to its soft expression again.

Pikachu, Buizel, Eevee, and Piplup were running around together before they all ate an Oran Berry together when they saw a bush nearby. Man... were they lucky. They were getting an early snack in the morning while we were continuing to hike in the woods.

"Wow... Must've been nice." I commented, with Luna nodding in agreement.

"I didn't think Suicune would appear to us, especially since we were the humans that tried to capture Entei once..." Luna admitted, before Sorrel spoke up.

"To meet Suicune so soon after seeing Entei... Incredible luck!" Sorrel stated, causing Verity to nod in agreement before she looked up.

"I think so, too! I wonder how my Mom would feel about it..." Verity said, causing Kaito to look at her first, before the rest of us perked up after hearing her say something about her Mom.

At noticing us stare at her, Verity giggled before she tried to explain to us about her Mom.

"Oh! My mother... She's a famous Pokémon Trainer back home! Nothing I ever do is good enough for her, if I'm honest... We haven't talked since I left." Verity explained sheepishly. Just as she said that, I thought I saw Kaito narrowing his eyes at her before he turned back to the route where we kept walking.

So Verity thought that she's doing nothing good for her Mom? That can't be true, right?

"You know what I think? I think she would be proud of you." Sorrel spoke out, his tone sounding confident.

"He's right! Of course she would!" I assured, trying to help Sorrel comfort our friend.

Verity just sighed before she responded to our reassurance.

"Maybe..." was all she said as we kept walking. I noticed Luna looking a bit sorry for her friend while big bro on the other hand, remained indifferent. They heard the short story of Verity and her mom now, so what were they thinking about?

Ah well... I can think about that later. Right now, it's off to the next town so we could get closer to the mountain range where Ho-Oh lives in!

 **Later...**

 **End POV**

"Jigglypuff, Double Slap, now!" A woman called out. Her Balloon Pokémon responded affirmatively as it looked ready to attack Charmander!

As the group arrived in the next town, Ash was challenged to a battle by a woman. Accepting her challenge, the younger Ketchum brother sent out Charmander to battle her Jigglypuff. Neither side was giving an inch, but the younger brother was confident that he would win.

But he wasn't the only one that was challenged to a battle. Isamu was battling a boy on his side of the battlefield, where he sent out Dratini to battle against the boy's Golduck!

"Dratini, use Thunder Wave!" Isamu shouted out, allowing his Dragon Type to shock Golduck with electricity! With the paralysis in effect, Golduck struggled to move as the boy called out to his Pokémon to encourage it.

"Come on, Golduck! You can still do it! Use Zen Headbutt!" The boy shouted out. The evolved Water Type was ready to knock Dratini away, only for the elder Ketchum brother to counter with another attack.

"It's over. Dratini, stop them with Twister!" Isamu called out. Using his strength, the young Dragon Type created a twister to trap Golduck and send it flying high into the air! The boy could only watch in horror as he watched his Pokémon get defeated.

"Charmander, use Flamethrower!" Ash was doing very well on his side as the Lizard Pokémon dodged the Double Slap attack to blast Jigglypuff with his powerful Fire Type attack! The move knocked Jigglypuff out as it groaned before falling unconscious in defeat.

Acting as the referee, Verity noticed the double knockouts before she declared the winners of the two battles that were taking place.

"Jigglypuff and Golduck are both unable to battle! Ash and Isamu are the winners!" Verity called out.

 **Winner: Ash + Isamu**

"Great work, Charmander!" Ash shouted out as he watched his Fire Type Pokémon run to him happily.

"Nice battle, Dratini. You really showed them what you were really made of!" Isamu said, causing Dratini to coo happily before its body began to glow. Charmander was the same as the little Fire Type started to glow as well!

Everyone watched in surprise as the two Pokémon began to change shape as they became completely different! Dratini cooed before he evolved into a Dragonair, while Charmander jumped up and landed onto Ash while becoming a Charmeleon!

The younger brother yelped in surprise as he fell on his back after being knocked down by his newly evolved Pokémon's increased weight. Isamu on the other hand, just walked over to his evolved Dragon Type, smiling as he rubbed Dragonair's head, causing the Dragon Type to coo in glee.

"You evolved into Charmeleon! That's awesome!"

"You evolved into Dragonair... That's awesome!"

The brothers praised their Pokémon for their evolution, causing their two Pokémon to cry out in affirmation.

 **That night...**

In the Pokémon Center, the Ketchum brothers decided to contact their mother about what was going on with them and how far they've travelled together with their new companions to join them.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Verity!"

"Pip Piplup!" Verity and Piplup introduced themselves first before Sorrel and Lucario went next.

"I'm Sorrel."

"Rarr…" Sorrel and Lucario spoke together as Luna and Arcanine introduced themselves next.

"My name is Luna. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Arc!" Luna and Arcanine introduced themselves before Kaito, Buizel, and Lycanroc introduced themselves last.

"And I'm Kaito."

"Bu bui!"

"Ly! Lycanroc!"

Delia could only smile happily to see her sons making new friends with other people and their Pokémon as she smiled in relief.

"I hope neither Ash or Isamu were causing you four any trouble. Oh well... They're both rambunctious, but they both have big hearts! I hope that you'll all be good friends!" Delia said, which irritated the Ketchum brothers a little.

"Mom... I wish you'd stop worrying..." Ash groaned while Isamu just sighed at his mother's choice of words. There would never be the time when she stops worrying about either him or Ash.

 **Later...**

After speaking with Delia, the group all headed to the library where Sorrel picked out a book that seemed to explain the details about the legend of the Rainbow Heroes and about Ho-Oh. As he was doing so, the others joined him, with Isamu noticing what book Sorrel was studying on.

"Did you find anything about the legend, Sorrel?" Isamu asked, causing Sorrel to nod with a smile.

"Yes... This is an excellent book! So well researched! Listen..." Sorrel said before he caught the others' attention, as he read what the book says about the legends.

"From high above, Ho-Oh watched over the many works of people and of Pokémon! And they experienced the aura of happiness, and they received energy from it, and yet..." Sorrel read before he turned to the next page where it seemed to show a dark time.

"...The heart of evil stole strength from it." Sorrel read again before he turned to the next page where it showed the people with Ho-Oh. There seemed to be a Rainbow Wing, with dark aura surrounding it.

"What's that...? Could that be the Rainbow Wing?" Luna asked, looking confused by the sight of it.

"It is... When the Rainbow Wing touches the heart of evil, its color vanishes..." Sorrel read again, causing Verity to frown at the mention of it.

"The heart of evil?" Verity repeated in curiosity.

"Its color vanishes...?" Ash repeated, also out of curiosity.

"I'm guessing it means for the people that holds selfish desires and greed... It kinda reminds me of Cross, who only cares about strength instead of friendship..." Kaito scoffed, remembering how Cross treated his Pokémon.

Isamu narrowed his eyes while Ash bit his lips. The younger brother remembered on how Charmeleon was treated badly as a Charmander back when it was still with Cross and how it came to be abandoned in the first place due to Cross' selfish desire for strength and power.

The younger Ketchum brother took out the Rainbow Wing that was entrusted to both him and Isamu as he noticed that the colors were still perfectly fine.

"Looks like ours is just fine..." Ash said, causing Verity to giggle, before she reminded the two brothers.

"Like your Mom said! You two maybe a little rambunctious, but the two of you don't have an evil heart!" Verity teased, causing Isamu to raise an eyebrow at her while Ash grinned, misunderstanding of the words Verity meant to say.

"That's right! Because we're big hearted AND rambunctious..." Ash started to say before he realized the error of his words. Just as he caught his mistake, he heard Kaito, Luna, Verity, and Sorrel all chuckling together in amusement.

Isamu on the other hand, sighed before he shrugged sheepishly. Eevee watched with a sheepish smile as Ash protested at his friends for their laughing.

"Knock it off! That's not nice! Quit laughing!" Ash protested, which only caused the others to laugh even more while the Ketchum brothers watched the four laugh together.

"It's your fault for not noticing the error you made with your words, little brother..." Isamu said before he playfully stuck out his tongue at his little brother, causing Ash to pout before he hit Isamu multiple times playfully to get him back.

"You take that back, big bro! I didn't mean what I said! I mean, I did mean the big-hearted part, but... Hey! Come on, stop laughing!" Ash started to protest until he noticed both Isamu and Eevee chuckling together, much to the younger brother's dismay.

But just as the group seemed to enjoy the moment they were having together, no one noticed Cross glaring at them with Lycanroc at his side as the two had noticed the Rainbow Wing that Ash revealed from his jacket.

The heartless Trainer gazed at it, before a dark desire came to his mind.

 **The next day...**

Both Ash and Isamu were battling again with two Trainers separately, with Ash facing the one with the Snorlax, and Isamu facing the Trainer with an Onix! The brothers used their starters for the match as they were fighting hard as they could.

The Snorlax dodged an Iron Tail coming from Pikachu before it jumped high into the air to prepare a Body Slam attack!

"Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted out. As Snorlax began to fall faster, the Mouse Pokémon prepared his Steel Type attack to counter!

For Eevee, she managed to keep up with Onix, who tried to strike at her with a Dragon Breath attack, only for the Evolution Pokémon to dodge and blast the Rock Snake Pokémon away with Shadow Ball!

Recovering from the big hit it had taken from the Ghost Type attack, Onix roared before it tried to counter back with Slam!

"Eevee, you use Iron Tail, too!" Isamu shouted out.

Just as both Onix and Snorlax looked like they successfully slammed their attacks onto their little opponents, they were instead sent flying into the air! The double Iron Tail by both Pikachu and Eevee managed to counter their attacks and leave them vulnerable in the air.

With their opponents having themselves wide open, the Ketchum brothers were ready to finish the battle with one last attack together.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Eevee, use Shadow Ball!"

The brothers shouted out the orders, causing their starters to charge up their attacks before they shot them towards their giant opponents! As the double special attacks made their mark, both Onix and Snorlax roared in pain before they slammed onto the ground, hard.

As the dust cleared, the referee noticed that the two of them were unconscious, allowing him to make the call for the battle's end.

"Onix and Snorlax are both unable to battle! Ash and Isamu are the winners of these two battles!" The referee called out, causing the people that were watching the battle to applaud and cheer for the brothers for their wins.

 **Winner: Ash + Isamu**

"Alright!"

"Pika Pika!"

The younger Ketchum brother and his Electric Type partner exchanged a high-five together while Eevee happily ran over to the elder Ketchum brother's arms.

"That was great, Eevee! You were on fire out there!" Isamu said as he embraced his Evolution Pokémon.

"Vee! Eevee!" Eevee cried out happily as the others applauded for their two friends.

"Very nice!"

"Piplup! Piplup!"

Verity and Piplup cheered together as Kaito and Sorrel watched together with their Pokémon partners. Luna on the other hand, sighed in relief as Arcanine watched to see the boys achieve their victory together.

"So, since both Ash and Isamu were victorious in their battles, who are their next challengers?" The referee called out, causing Verity to turn to her Water Type starter. Kaito did the same as he turned to his two Pokémon.

"What do you say, Piplup?" Verity asked, causing Piplup to chirp out its agreement.

"Okay, you two... Ready for our turn?" Kaito asked, causing both Buizel and Lycanroc to cry out their determined cries. But just before the two could challenge their friends to a battle, a familiar voice shouted out, declaring that he would be the next challenger.

"I am!" The familiar voice snapped out loud. At the sudden call, everyone turned to see that it was Cross! He walked up to the battlefield to face the brothers with Lycanroc at his side.

At seeing the heartless Trainer, the group all glared to where he stood, while Sorrel just watched with Lucario, as he didn't know too much about him.

"It's Cross..." Verity breathed out seriously.

"Huh... So he's the Trainer you guys were talking about..." Sorrel said sternly, as Kaito folded his arms.

"What does he want...? I thought he wouldn't want to bother with people like us?" Kaito asked sternly. Both Buizel and Lycanroc glared to the arrogant human as Luna frowned, feeling concerned for the Ketchum brothers as she watched.

"Ash... Isamu... Please be careful, you guys." Luna said silently, which Arcanine heard. The Fire Type comforted his Trainer as he kept a close eye on what the next battle could show.

"Heard a rumor... You two started working with that useless Charmander." Cross said arrogantly, causing the two brothers to glare at him.

"There's no such thing as a useless Pokémon! Charmeleon, I choose you!" Ash snapped as he called out his newly evolved Fire Type out for battle! Pikachu joined his Trainer back in the box as the Lizard Pokémon appeared, before widening his eyes to see his former Trainer in front of him.

"It actually evolved? Tch... It doesn't matter. A weakling is still a weakling." Cross said darkly as Isamu spoke up, defending his brother and his Fire Type.

"You sure you're not talking about yourself? Why don't you prove that you're not that weakling?" Isamu taunted darkly, causing Cross to glare at him with gritted teeth as Ash chimed in with his words.

"And you're not even close! When a Pokémon works with a Trainer, it gets stronger!" Ash added, causing Cross to twitch his eyes in annoyance. He slowly took out a Pokéball, as he got ready for battle.

"Smart mouths... Alright... My strong Fire Type Pokémon... Incineroar! To arms!" Cross yelled as he sent out a new Fire Type Pokémon, which caught everyone's attention by surprise!

The new Fire Type looked like a big, red muscular cat of some sort. It looked fierce and serious, as if it wasn't planning to go easy or show mercy to its opponents one bit! Kaito frowned as he recognized this Pokémon.

"Look at that..." Verity breathed out, with Kaito speaking next.

"It's Cross' starter Pokémon..." Kaito commented, causing Verity and Luna to turn to him in surprise.

"An Incineroar..." Sorrel explained, as he too recognized the Pokémon.

Cross then glanced at his Midnight Form Lycanroc, making an order to the evolved Rock Type.

"You get in there too, Lycanroc. To arms!" Cross called out, catching everyone by surprise as Luna protested at his choice.

"What!? But then it's two against one! That's against the rules!" Luna cried out as Cross sneered, his annoyance going away a little. He gazed at Isamu, having the urge to let the elder brother know his place.

"Oh don't worry... I'm not going to play dirty. You! You're that kid's older brother, right? I'm challenging you as well!" Cross demanded, as he pointed to Isamu. Ash widened his eyes in surprise, realizing that his older brother was being dragged into this battle.

For the elder Ketchum brother however, he didn't respond but just glared. He slowly joined his little brother in battle, as he took out a Pokéball, signaling to Eevee to stand by and watch.

"That's how you're going to play, huh... Dragonair, take the field!" Isamu called out. His newly evolved Dragon Type cooed loudly as it appeared on the battlefield, before it got ready to face both Incineroar and Lycanroc together with Charmeleon.

At seeing the Dragon Type, the heartless Trainer narrowed his eyes before he just scoffed.

 **Cross: Incineroar + Lycanroc VS Ash / Isamu: Charmeleon + Dragonair**

"Now... Come at me!" Cross called out, allowing Ash to make the first move.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower on Incineroar!" Ash shouted out. The Lizard Pokémon shot his flames to Incineroar, who took the attack head-on! For Isamu, he called out his next attack, selecting Lycanroc as Dragonair's opponent.

"Dragonair, use Dragon Pulse on Lycanroc!" Isamu called out. The Dragon Pokémon shot an energy beam, causing Lycanroc to take the hit and skid back from the little damage it had taken just now!

"That's it!" Ash exclaimed as Isamu just blinked.

 _"They both just stood there and took the attacks...?"_ Isamu thought as the smoke cleared to show both of Cross' Pokémon had taken some damage from the two attacks. Not concerned about what Cross didn't do, the younger brother attacked again.

"Use Slash!" Ash shouted out. The Lizard Pokémon charged as Isamu called out his attack also to keep the pressure up.

"You use Dragon Tail!" Isamu called out. The Dragon Pokémon followed Charmeleon, as the two slammed their physical attacks against their opponents, which dealt some damage onto them like the first attacks!

Both Lycanroc and Incineroar skidded back, wincing from the attacks they've taken, much to Ash's excitement as he believed that he and his brother were having an advantage in this Double Battle already.

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed while Isamu narrowed his eyes.

 _"Again, they took the attacks... Cross didn't even tell them to dodge. But why? Is this how he battles his opponents?"_ Isamu thought as he started to grow more suspicious with the way the battle was going.

Kaito and Sorrel seemed to feel the same way as Isamu was feeling as Sorrel spoke his doubt first.

"Strange..." Sorrel spoke out, causing the girls to turn to their friends in confusion as Kaito watched the battle carefully. The next attacks were called by Ash again, as he and Isamu prepared to strike their opponents once more.

"Keep it up, Charmeleon! Seismic Toss, now!"

"No holding back, Dragonair! Use Twister!"

The Lizard Pokémon and the Dragon Pokémon charged to their opponents to strike again as the attacks made contact! Charmeleon managed to use his strength to throw Incineroar around and slam him into the ground, causing the Heel Pokémon to skid on the ground and pant.

Lycanroc was in a similar situation as the Twister Dragonair has made from his powers threw the Wolf Pokémon off guard before it was slammed onto the ground, skidding back like Incineroar!

But despite the damages his Pokémon have taken so far, Cross showed no concern as he instead, smirked at his two Pokémon.

"Incineroar... Lycanroc... Let's do it!" Cross called out, causing both of his Pokémon to remained determined and fierce to win! Isamu widened his eyes as he watched Ash call out his next attack with the same Fire Type move!

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted out, causing the Lizard Pokémon to shoot his flames at Incineroar, only for Cross to counter this time with the same attack!

"And we'll use Flamethrower, too!" Cross shouted, causing Incineroar to use his belt to blast flames to counter Charmeleon's Flamethrower. The two flames looked even, until the Heel Pokémon's Flamethrower overpowered the Lizard Pokémon's flames!

The Flamethrower blasted Charmeleon down, much to the younger brother's surprise.

"Charmeleon!?" Ash gasped as he and Pikachu watched in shock to see their Fire Type friend get knocked down by the opponent's flames.

"Tch...! Dragonair, use Dragon Pulse!" Isamu called out, causing the Dragon Type to blast his Dragon Type attack towards Lycanroc, only for Cross to counter him again, this time with his Wolf Pokémon's power.

"Lycanroc, you use Stone Edge!" Cross shouted, causing the Midnight Form to summon hard stone shards before causing them to collide with the Dragon Pulse attack! Just when things looked even, the Stone Edge became stronger, as it started to get near where Dragonair stood!

"Quick! Repel that attack with Twister!" Isamu shouted out, causing Dragonair to form another Twister to stop the stones from reaching him, much to Lycanroc's annoyance as it growled at Dragonair, who growled back in response.

"Tch... How annoying." Cross grumbled as Sorrel widened his eyes in realization.

"Of course! When Incineroar takes enough damage, it gains more power. The same goes for Lycanroc when it's in its Midnight Form! It doesn't care for when it gets attacked, it only makes it more angrier and stronger for the more damage it takes!" Sorrel explained, causing the girls to widen their eyes in surprise.

"But... that means...!" Verity started to say before Sorrel finished for her.

"That means Cross let them take the attacks multiple times because he knew it would make them more stronger... and more aggressive than they were at the start of the battle..." Kaito explained, causing Luna to turn to the Ketchum brothers in worry.

"Oh no...!" was all Luna could say as the younger brother tried to fight back.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted out, causing Charmeleon to try and fight back with his flames. But suddenly, just as Charmeleon looked like he was about to use his Fire Type attack, small flames popped out instead!

Isamu gritted his teeth, realizing the situation his little brother got himself in.

 _"Damn... This isn't looking too good. Ash hasn't battled with Charmeleon with other Trainers yet, so Charmeleon can't use his newly evolved powers correctly! And with the damage he's taken...!"_ Isamu thought as the others noticed this.

"It can't keep up! Its newly evolved powers aren't ready!" Sorrel pointed out, causing the girls to turn to him in surprise.

"This is bad... If this keeps up, then they're both going to lose! They both should know that they can't just win with just strength alone!" Kaito called out, as Isamu tried to aid his brother by calling out to Dragonair.

"Dragonair, use Thunder Wave! Buy us some time!" Isamu shouted out.

Dragonair let out a loud battle cry before he shot his Electric Type attack on both Incineroar and Lycanroc, causing the two of them to be both paralyzed! Cross gritted his teeth before he tried to attack once again.

"Use Fire Fang and Crush Claw!" Cross yelled.

Despite the paralysis from Thunder Wave, both Incineroar and Lycanroc charged to attack their opponents, causing Isamu to try and defend themselves from the incoming attacks.

"Ugh! Dragonair, Twister!" Isamu shouted out.

Getting in front of the Lizard Pokémon, Dragonair blew another twister to block the incoming attacks! Lycanroc struggled a little, but Incineroar managed to dodge in time to smash Charmeleon into the air with a hard Fire Fang attack!

"What!?"

"AH!"

Both Isamu and Ash gasped, as Pikachu and Eevee watched in horror to see their Fire Type friend get hurt from the Fire Type move. Dragonair was surprised too, which left him distracted enough to let Lycanroc slash him away with Crush Claw!

"Use Throat Chop and Crush Claw!" Cross called out again.

Charging at the vulnerable Lizard Pokémon, Incineroar made a direct on Charmeleon's throat with his Dark Type attack, smashing the poor Lizard Pokémon onto the ground! Lycanroc prepared to slash Dragonair again, only for Isamu to counter back.

"Don't get cocky! Dragonair, use Dragon Tail!"

Crush Claw and Dragon Tail collided with one another, causing both Pokémon to struggle against each other until the elder Ketchum brother made a surprise attack!

"Now! Use Dragon Pulse!" Isamu shouted, catching the heartless Trainer's attention as he watched his Wolf Pokémon get blasted back by the close range Dragon Type attack!

"No!" Cross couldn't believe that while he was doing perfectly against one opponent, he wasn't able to corner his other opponent in battle!

But for Ash, the younger Ketchum brother wasn't faring well as his Lizard Pokémon was harshly knocked down and smashed into a stone fence by the Throat Chop attack. As the younger brother feared for the worst, he widened his eyes to see Charmeleon still in battle!

But the Lizard Pokémon's eyes were getting dull, as if Charmeleon had lost the life in his eyes. Cross noticed this as he called to his Fire Type.

"Let's wrap this up! Use Cross Chop!" Cross called out, catching Isamu by surprise as he realized that Incineroar was going for Charmeleon once again. But Ash, insisting that he wasn't going to lose, continued on without hesitation.

"We're not gonna lose this! Use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted out. The Lizard Pokémon weakly made an affirmative call, much to the others' shock as they called out to the younger Ketchum brother.

"No! Ash, you can't!"

"Charmeleon won't be able to take another hit! Fall back!"

Sorrel and Kaito's calls were overwhelmed by the battle going on as Incineroar charged at his weakened opponent. As the Lizard Pokémon tried to breathe another Flamethrower to counter his opponent, it ended badly for the Fire Type.

The Cross Chop made a brutal hit, as it sent Charmeleon flying! Ash gasped in horror as he watched his Lizard Pokémon get smashed through the stone fence again before he tumbled onto the ground in defeat.

"Charmeleon!" Ash gasped, as he and Pikachu quickly ran over to check on their defeated friend. Isamu, Eevee, and Dragonair all turned to see Charmeleon struggling to move again, only for the last of his strength to leave him.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle!" The referee declared, as the others quickly ran over to where Ash knelt down in defeat. For the elder brother, Isamu bit his lips before he gritted his teeth, as he glared back to where Cross was smirking in triumph.

"Tch... Dragon Pulse!" Isamu shouted out. Angered at seeing his friend get defeated, Dragonair shot the pulse of energy at Lycanroc, who widened his eyes before he took the hit hard, catching both Cross and Incineroar by surprise as they watched their comrade get defeated.

"What the!? Lycanroc!?" Cross snapped as Lycanroc growled angrily, before he slumped down, unconscious from the attack he had just taken!

"Lycanroc is unable to battle!" The referee called out, as Cross glared at Isamu and Dragonair angrily as the battle continued on.

"Why you...! Incineroar, teach the weakling a lesson with Throat Chop!" Cross yelled, causing the Heel Pokémon to try and smash Dragonair down like it did with the Lizard Pokémon!

"Don't count on it! Use Dragon Tail, Dragonair!" Isamu yelled, causing Dragonair to slam his tail onto Incineroar's fists. The two struggled against each other before they both jumped back.

As they did so however, the paralysis that Incineroar had took from the Thunder Wave attack started to take effect!

"What's going on!?" Cross snapped, giving the elder brother a chance to try and wrap the battle up.

"It's over, Cross! Dragonair, use Dragon Pulse once more!" Isamu yelled, allowing his evolved Dragon Pokémon to shoot another Dragon Type attack, as Incineroar struggled to move! The move made contact, knocking Incineroar back!

Cross widened his eyes before his face grew fierce and furious. Incineroar on the other hand, struggled to get up as it growled at Dragonair, who began to pant in exhaustion from all the attacks he had to do while being struck back.

"You've done it now... Incineroar! One more attack! Use Flamethrower!" Cross bellowed out loud.

"They're still not down!? Dragonair, counter with Dragon Pulse!" Isamu shouted back.

The two evolved Pokémon launched their attacks, causing the attacks to get close to one another before they passed each other! Both Isamu and Cross widened their eyes as Flamethrower knocked Dragonair away while Incineroar was blasted again with Dragon Pulse.

Everyone watched in disbelief as the smoke cleared to show... both Incineroar and Dragonair unconscious.

"B-Both Incineroar and Dragonair are unable to battle! This battle is a draw!" The referee called out, causing Cross to grit his teeth as he returned his two defeated Pokémon back into their Pokéballs while Isamu returned Dragonair back as he quickly went over to where Ash and the others were.

 **DRAW**

The younger Ketchum brother was still kneeling down next to his defeated Pokémon as Kaito, Luna, Verity, and Sorrel looked to see Ash look defeated. Isamu knelt down next to his brother as Eevee watched Charmeleon sadly with Pikachu at his side.

"Ash...?" Isamu asked silently, only for his younger brother to not respond. The elder brother frowned, realizing that the defeat Charmeleon had taken first made the younger brother feel crushed for losing so bad early in the battle.

"You're too soft!" Cross snapped, causing the Ketchum brothers to turn and see Cross walking over to them with a disgusted look.

"You battled using cheap friendship and called moves your Pokémon couldn't use, so that's why you lost too easily! You're the worst Trainer I've ever seen! AND... you'll never win!" Cross snapped, causing Ash to widen his eyes before Isamu stood up and glared at Cross with a dirty expression.

"Do you ever shut up? You haven't won this battle. None of us did! So don't go calling my brother weak just because of what just occurred in our battle!" Isamu said dangerously, causing Cross to scoff before he turned back.

As the heartless Trainer took his leave, Isamu narrowed his eyes before he looked to see Ash still looking crushed after what the heartless Trainer said to him just now.

"Ash..." Isamu said silently, while Eevee let her ears drop down in worry. Pikachu looked up to his human partner, also looking concerned as well.

 **That evening...**

After their battle with Cross, the Ketchum brothers took Dragonair and Charmeleon to the Pokémon Center so that Nurse Joy could help them recover from their wounds they received during their battle.

With the recovery finished, Nurse Joy presented the brothers their Pokémon's Pokéballs.

"Your Pokémon are fully recovered and healthy!" Nurse Joy said happily, allowing the brothers to take their Pokéballs back.

"Thanks very much..." Ash said dryly as the elder brother glanced at him before he said his thanks to the nurse.

As the group began to take their leave, Luna glanced at Kaito, who noticed her glance. The Alola boy sighed as he was the first to follow the Ketchum brothers out, with Sorrel and Verity following.

"Cheer up! Charmeleon's fine!" Verity piped up as she tried to cheer up the younger Ketchum brother.

"Pika!"

"Eevee!"

Even Pikachu and Eevee tried to cheer their human friends up. Isamu blinked before he gave a weak smile as he took a glance at Ash. The younger brother looked rather annoyed, causing Isamu to frown.

Once the group were all out of the Center, that was when Ash spoke, feeling frustrated about what occurred in the battle.

"That guy... His training is totally wrong! I know we should've won that thing, but..." Ash started to say before he stopped for a moment.

"But...?" Isamu repeated, wanting to hear what his brother wanted to say. But Ash didn't respond, as his face darkened a little. Sorrel spoke up this time, trying to remind Ash of what Cross was able to show during the battle.

"Try as you might. You cannot deny his convictions. He and his two Pokémon are all bonded together, through their shared beliefs in pure raw strength!" Sorrel reminded, only for Ash to lash out at him with a glare.

"Even so! It's wrong for a guy like that to win!" Ash snapped, causing Luna to blink in surprise while Isamu narrowed his eyes. The elder brother knew where this could be going, and he didn't like it. He knew that this attitude needed to stop, whether Ash wanted to or not.

"Stop it, Ash. You do realize that no one can everything, right? You should take this loss and try to think of a way to win next time. That way, the next time you battle Cross, you can prove him wrong." Kaito reminded, with Verity adding in.

"Kaito's right! Can't you channel the frustration of losing into working hard so that you'll win next time?" Verity asked. Their words seemed to calm Ash down a little as he sighed, before reluctantly accepting their words.

"Yeah, I hear ya..." Ash said before he started to take the lead in walking ahead. But as Isamu followed, what Ash said next stopped him in his tracks.

"You know... Huh... Pikachu would've won that thing." Ash said plainly, which didn't go unheard by the others.

"Ash, don't say that! If Charmeleon was here right now, you'd be hurting his feelings right now!" Luna reminded, causing Ash to widen his eyes before he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Noticing the frustration Ash was bottling inside him, Isamu sighed before he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Stop this, Ash. Getting frustrated over this is not going to help you get stronger against Cross. Besides, we didn't lose the battle, remember? It was a draw, so neither side won or lost. Cross had no right in saying something like that to you." Isamu said sternly.

"It only ended in a draw because you were there, defeating both of Cross' Pokémon with Dragonair, Isamu! I on the other hand, couldn't do anything back there with Charmeleon!" Ash retorted, causing the others to widen his eyes.

Before Isamu could speak, Ash began to speak again, although his eyes looked a bit more wild.

"Tell me something, Isamu... How... How is it that while I couldn't do much in that battle, you were able to finish it in a draw, and when you were completely outnumbered!?" Ash demanded, causing Isamu to narrow his eyes.

"What exactly are you trying to ask, Ash?" Isamu asked, allowing his little brother to express what he was really feeling. It was time the elder brother listen to what the younger brother wanted to say to him, especially since so much time passed during their journey together.

"Every time when we battle... every time when a battle ends, something felt wrong to me... And today... that feeling came back to me again. Why is it... Why is it when we battle, you always end up doing better than I am!?" Ash demanded, catching Isamu by surprise.

"Wait... when did I say I was better than you!? I would never say something like that to you! You're my brother! We're equals, no matter how older or younger we are!" Isamu protested, catching the younger brother's attention as he retorted back angrily.

"Equals? Then tell me something, Isamu... Why is it that Cross called me the worst Trainer and you didn't get told off? Do you know how I felt after he said that to me!? It's as if... he knew what was so different between the two of us, you and me..." Ash started to say before he bit his lips.

"That could be only because you overestimated Charmeleon's strength while underestimating Cross' Pokémon. Charmeleon is your Pokémon, Ash... You need to realize that sending Charmeleon against a powerful opponent against Cross was wrong, especially since Charmeleon couldn't use his powers completely!" Isamu explained.

That sent the younger brother over the edge however, as he glared at his brother again.

"What did you say!? So you're saying it's my fault that Charmeleon got knocked out too easily!? It's my fault that I ended up losing too early in the match!?" Ash shouted angrily, causing Isamu to shake his head in denial as he tried to speak calmly.

"I'm not blaming you for the loss that happened to you or Charmeleon, I..." Isamu started to say until Ash interrupted him this time.

"Just... stop, Isamu. Just stop! I don't... want to hear it!" Ash snapped, causing Isamu to widen his eyes before he felt his emotion going a bit wild, as his patience started to grow thin with his little brother's "tantrum".

"So what is it that you want me to say!? 'I'm sorry that you lost, little bro... Maybe I should've lost, too...' Is that what you want me to say!?" Isamu snapped, causing Ash to say the words that threatened to break the brotherly bond he and Isamu had cherished together in the past.

"No! What I want to say is... is... is that I... I..."

At that moment, the words that came next out of Ash's mouth froze Isamu in horror as he didn't want to believe that the brother he loved would be the one to say something like that to him. But in reality, it did come to him... harshly... like a stone falling to smash something fragile below.

"I WISH YOU WERE NEVER MY BROTHER!"

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For**

 **Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights**

 **Chapter 8: The Bond to Make a Miracle**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash's Charmander and Caterpie evolves into Charmeleon and Metapod

\- Isamu's Dratini evolves into a Dragonair

\- Cross is revealed to have an Incineroar

\- Cross challenges Ash and Isamu to a battle, resulting in a draw


	5. New Hope to Make Up For

**Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For**

 **Isamu's POV**

Last chapter, after Ash and I decided to travel with Sorrel, Kaito, Luna, and Verity to the Raizen Mountain Range to confront Ho-Oh together, we traveled across many different places and Pokémon that we met.

And luckily for Ash, his little Caterpie had evolved into a Metapod when he was a battling a wild Pinsir that looked strong enough to easily defeat the little Bug Type. But with the miraculous evolution, the victor ended up as Ash's Metapod.

The traveling went on until we arrived at the Pokémon Center to learn more about the legend of Ho-Oh and the secrets of the Rainbow Wing Ho-Oh had given to both me and Ash during our first day on our journey.

At first, I thought this would make us feel more excited for the upcoming journey, but I was proven wrong the next day...

While Ash and I were battling against several Trainers to train together, we came across Cross, who challenged the both of us to a battle! But this was also the part where things started to get bitter for Ash, as he was the first one to lose in our battle!

Cross was strong, despite his idiocy of believing that power is the only way to become the strongest as he tried to pummel us! Luckily, with Dragonair bringing down both his Lycanroc and Incineroar, the battle ended as a draw since Dragonair had fallen to.

But after that battle, was the time when Ash started to grow even more bitter as he believed that Cross had no right to win, due to his methods of treating his Pokémon. But just as I was about to call to him... he spoke in a tone that I thought he would never speak to me of...

 **End POV**

* * *

"No! What I want to say is... is... is that I... I..."

At that moment, the words that came next out of Ash's mouth froze Isamu in horror as he didn't want to believe that the brother he loved would be the one to say something like that to him. But in reality, it did come to him... harshly... like a stone falling to smash something fragile below.

"I WISH YOU WERE NEVER MY BROTHER!"

Kaito, Sorrel, Verity, and Luna all gasped at the sudden outburst the younger Ketchum brother had said just now as Isamu had his eyes widened, his face turning pale in surprise for what his brother said to him just now.

"Ash, how could you say that...!?" Luna started to protest until Sorrel snapped at him with a stern tone.

"If winning's all you care about, then you're no different from Cross!" Sorrel added sternly, catching the younger Ketchum brother by surprise before his glare quickly returned to his face.

But to his elder brother, Ash seemed to have realized what he had just said before he gritted his teeth and ran off, surprising the others as Sorrel and Verity ran after the younger Ketchum brother, with Pikachu, Lucario, and Piplup at their side!

"Ash, wait!"

"Ash, hold on! Come back!" The two continued their chase after the younger brother. Luna and Kaito started to follow, until they noticed to see that the elder Ketchum brother was just standing there with the shocked expression remaining on his face.

"Eevee...?" Eevee asked, nudging the elder brother's face as Luna turned to him in worry.

"I-Isamu, are you okay?" Luna asked, causing the elder brother's face to darken before he shook his head in disbelief. The expression on his face turned to an annoyed expression as he scoffed before he stormed away.

"Isamu, wait! Where are you going!?" Kaito called out as he and Luna went after the elder brother, who headed off to a different direction of the next route, with Ash taking another route!

Neither of the two seemed to have noticed, but... with the situation that caused the bond to go bitter... it became worse, darkening the brotherly bond between the Ketchum brothers.

 **Ash's Route...**

It was night by the time Ash had gotten away from both Sorrel and Verity, while separating from Isamu, Luna, and Kaito. Pikachu was behind the younger brother, as Ash still felt steamed for what the others had said to him.

"What's with those guys, thinking that they're so smart!? And Isamu, too...!" Ash grunted angrily, recalling of the lecture that the elder Ketchum brother tried to tell him before Ash had cut him off with his outburst.

As he walked, he remembered the face Isamu had made when Ash said he wished the elder Ketchum brother was never his brother. At remembering that, a hint of regret came to Ash's face, only for him to shake that feeling off.

"Argh... Why am I thinking about him in the first place...? It's clear that he thinks he's much more better than me, given the fact that he's never lost a battle before, starting on the first day we traveled together!" Ash snapped to himself angrily.

"Pika!" Pikachu called out, causing the younger brother to turn to his Electric Type partner.

"Hey! I'm right, don't you think?" Ash asked, only for the Mouse Pokémon to shake his head in response.

"So, you're saying it's my fault, huh!?" Ash snapped, only to get a sad affirmative cry from the Electric Type. Twitching his eyes in annoyance, the younger brother scoffed and continued making his way across the forest.

"Even Pikachu... Man!" Ash grumbled as he trudged his way through the dark forest, with the Mouse Pokémon still following him. After a while, the younger Ketchum brother stopped in his tracks, before he mumbled a few words to himself.

"Huh... If only my first Pokémon had been a Squirtle or Bulbasaur..." Ash mumbled to himself.

But despite the mumbling, the Electric Type heard those words clearly before his face turned into a scowl. Judging from Ash's tone and attitude, the Electric Type knew immediately that his human partner was acting and speaking irrationally.

And the younger brother widened his eyes, realizing what he just said before he bit his lips. Continuing his trudging, Ash walked across the dark forest, not noticing that Pikachu wasn't following him anymore.

He didn't even notice a dark shadow going past him, as the younger brother continued to make his way. But after a moment later, he stopped once again and turned to see where Pikachu should've been!

But to the younger brother's surprise, the Mouse Pokémon was nowhere to be seen as he quickly ran over to where the Electric Type could've been!

However, the Mouse Pokémon was still nowhere to be seen as Ash tried to call out for his Electric Type partner, his tone hinting a bit of regret for his past words.

"Pikachu...?" Ash called out weakly. But no response came.

After a moment, the younger brother gritted his teeth as he laid his back onto a tree before he took out the Rainbow Wing that he kept inside his jacket pocket. Annoyed for what's been going on around him, Ash tried to question the Legendary Pokémon.

"Ho-Oh... I thought I was the Rainbow Hero!" Ash grunted before he slumped down, before sitting on the ground. Clenching his fists with one of them holding the Wing, the younger brother twitched angrily, as he spouted out words of his annoyance.

"Who needs Pikachu or Isamu anyway!? I'm just fine! All by myself!" Ash snapped to himself before he shut his eyes tight.

But what Ash didn't know, was that the dark shadow from before its eyes glowed. At the same time, the younger brother felt himself getting drowsy as he began to fall asleep, while dropping the Rainbow Wing in the process.

As he dropped it on the ground, the Wing started to lose its color, before being surrounded by dark aura due to the dark change in Ash's heart.

 **Isamu's Route...**

Isamu was walking on another side of the forest with Eevee walking by his side. The elder brother was still miffed for what Ash said to him before they separated as his face remained darkened, possibly to hide his hurt that he actually felt inside him.

Kaito and Luna weren't too far behind him as Luna tried to call out for the elder Ketchum brother.

"Isamu...?" Luna called out, causing the elder brother to stop in his tracks and slowly glance to where his two companions stood.

"Are you okay...? I mean, what Ash said was wrong, but... you know that he didn't meant that, right?" Luna asked, causing Isamu to sigh before he shook his head.

"Don't know... And to be honest, I actually don't want to find out if he was serious or not..." Isamu admitted darkly as Kaito stepped up to call to him this time.

"Come on, this isn't the first time he said something like this to you, right? I mean, you may be brothers, but... there are some times when brothers fight, no matter how strong or great their brotherly relationship is!" Kaito exclaimed, causing Isamu to remain silent.

Eevee had her ears droop down in worry, as she began to worry for the elder brother's feelings as his face remained darkened from the hurt he had gained.

"No... You're right. This isn't the first time Ash and I argued like this, but... out of all the arguments... this is the first time he openly admitted that he didn't want me as a brother." Isamu confessed, causing Luna to widen her eyes.

Kaito widened his eyes too in shock, before the Alola Trainer frowned.

"What are you planning to do now? Do you... still planning on heading towards the Raizen Mountain Range where Ho-Oh is?" Kaito asked, causing Isamu to turn his head back to where he was going before he responded back.

"Maybe... But I just... don't know what to think of or to say anymore." Isamu admitted as he turned back to where his companions were. At him turning, both Luna and Kaito witnessed of what the elder brother's face looked like.

A tear had streamed down from Isamu's left eye while the right eye looked like a tear was about to spill. The face Isamu had right now looked completely empty. It's as if, he had lost every joy and positive feelings he had in him.

"Isamu..." was all Luna could say before the elder brother shook his head.

"I... I honestly don't blame Ash for what he said. Maybe... he would've been better off, if we traveled separately instead of going together, with me dragging him down." Isamu admitted, his voice choking a sob.

"Isamu, don't say that. You know that's not true..." Luna assured as she tried to comfort the elder brother. Kaito followed her, as the two helped Isamu walk to where the area in the dark forest seemed to be safe.

After it looked safe, the three sat together, with the elder brother still looking empty but with tears on his face. Eevee made a sad coo sound, before licking his tears to try and comfort the human who had cared for her.

"Vee..." Eevee said sadly, causing the elder brother to rub her furry head, despite of the tears remaining on his eyes.

"I just... don't know what to do anymore. I will continue my journey, and I will want to head over to the Mountain Range, but... some part of me, I don't know... just wants to end this right now." Isamu spoke out weakly.

"You can't really be thinking that... You came this far together with Ash. Just... ending the adventure here would mean that your progress was all for nothing, right? I mean, what about your dream?" Kaito reminded in a worried tone.

"That's..." Isamu couldn't think of how to counter those words as he sighed again, causing both of his companions to look at him before the elder brother stood up, with Eevee jumping off of him to remain at his side.

"Isamu...?" Luna started to ask before the elder brother talked back.

"I just... want to be alone for a while. I'll be back." Isamu assured as he slowly walked deeper into the forest, leaving Kaito and Luna be. The two looked at each other, before they looked to see Isamu disappearing into the forest.

"Vee...?" Eevee cried out, causing Luna to rub her head in response.

"Don't worry, Eevee... I'm sure he'll be fine. He just needs time to himself before he can decide on what he wants to do next." Luna assured quietly, causing the Evolution Pokémon to coo sadly before she let her ears droop down in worry.

For Isamu, the elder brother trudged across the forest slowly before he came across a small pond. Narrowing his eyes, he slumped down with his back against the tree. As he stared at the pond, he sighed deeply.

"How did it... come to this? By now, I thought miracles could occur... unless, of course... that was just me being delusional for believing in such a fact..." Isamu grunted to himself before he closed his eyes.

"I just wished... that something like this never happened. Maybe then Ash wouldn't have said that, and... maybe, I wouldn't be saying something like this. Damn it all..." Isamu spoke to himself as he gritted his teeth with little frustration.

Feeling a little drowsy himself, the elder Ketchum brother let the sleep take over him before he fell asleep, as he lost the little frustration he felt inside him.

 **Ash's Route...**

 **Dream**

 _"Ash Ketchum, are you still asleep? You'll be late getting to Professor Oak's class!" Delia called out in warning, causing Ash to groan in his sleep before he started to awaken himself from his sleep._

 _"Yeah, right... AH! Mom! Why didn't you wake me up!? WHOA!" Ash started to whine before he fell off of his bed, falling on the ground. Wincing and groaning in pain, Ash managed to get up as he looked to see an empty bed under his bed._

 _Blinking in confusion, he shoved that away as he rushed to change his clothes and wash up so he could get to class. But before he left the house, he called to his mom for a question he wanted to know._

 _"Hey, Mom...?" Ash asked, causing Delia to turn to her son in question._

 _"Yes, honey?" Delia responded before the younger brother tried to ask._

 _"Did... anyone else lived in the house? I mean, I forgot that I had another bed under me..." Ash asked, causing Delia to frown before she closed her eyes. The younger brother widened his eyes as he tried to apologize, until..._

 _"You... had a brother." Delia answered sadly, causing the younger brother to blink before he feared for the worst._

 _"What... What happened to him?" Ash asked, causing the mother to shake her head before she struggled to answer her son's question._

 _"It was when... you came back from your summer school trip when you were five. Your brother died due to some sickness that the doctors couldn't cure. You kept crying and crying when you heard he was gone..." Delia continued on before she broke down._

 _Ash widened his eyes before he bit his lips in regret._

 _"M-Mom... I'm sorry." Ash said as he quickly left the house to leave his mother crying to herself about being reminded of her first son._

 _While Ash ran there, he bit his lips as he picked up the pace in both annoyance and regret._

 _"Why did I not remember that? What was his name...?" Ash grunted as he made his way towards the school to where he noticed a familiar man watering the flowers near the building._

 _"Professor Oak!" Ash gasped as the Professor turned to the younger brother._

 _"Oh...? Well, if it isn't Ash..." Prof. Oak pointed out as Ash panted from the quick running he had to do from his home._

 _"Am I on time?" Ash gasped as the Professor gave him a sheepish smile before he explained._

 _"There are four students who came to school late, and you were the latest of them all." Prof. Oak explained sternly, causing the younger brother to groan in defeat, understanding the consequences of him having overslept._

 _As soon as he headed inside the school, he headed inside his class, where the class seemed to have already been in progress._

 _Verity, Sorrel, Kaito, and Luna were already there in their seats as Verity reminded the younger brother of his tardiness._

 _"Ash, you're late!" Verity reminded, causing the younger brother to confess his reason for being late._

 _"I overslept a little..." Ash explained, with Sorrel questioning about his assignment's whereabouts._

 _"Where's your homework?" Sorrel asked, causing Ash to groan in disbelief._

 _"Augh... I forgot it!" Ash groaned, causing Kaito to raise an eyebrow towards him._

 _"Seriously? You need to get it together, or otherwise... we might just leave you behind." Kaito reminded, causing Ash to give his classmate a sheepish smile in agreement._

 _"Yeah... I know." Ash chuckled before Luna chided him for his stern words._

 _"Leave him alone, Kaito... You do remember he wasn't like this before, right?" Luna reminded, causing Kaito to sigh before he focused back onto his notes._

 _"Yeah, yeah... I know." Kaito agreed, knowing what Luna meant._

 _Confused of what Luna was talking about, the younger brother was about to question her until he blinked. He thought he noticed something rushing under his desk as he looked down, only to see nothing under there._

 _"Ash, what is it?" Verity asked, only for the younger brother to shake his head before he responded to her question._

 _"Uh... It's nothing." Ash assured, making her narrow her eyes at him._

 _"You're weird..." Verity spoke out bluntly, only for Luna to chide her this time._

 _"I said, leave him alone..." Luna reminded, much to Verity's chagrin, as the teacher of the class caught everyone's attention to let them know that the next lesson was about to begin._

 _During the lesson, the younger brother looked out at the window while the teacher explained about the subject they were learning today._

 _"The subject of today's class is rainbows. Rainbows are caused by the sun's rays..." The teacher went on as Ash looked out at the window. As he looked at the sky to see the sky and the clouds floating above, the younger brother noticed something up in the sky._

 _Flying in the sky, there seemed to be a giant bird with many bright colors! Widening his eyes, Ash shook his head and opened his eyes again, only to see that it was just an airplane flying across the sky._

 _Groaning at himself, the younger brother turned his head back to the lesson to listen to the lecture._

 _Once the lecture was over, it was soon lunchtime._

 _But remembering the depressing subject he brought up about his deceased brother, the younger brother didn't have any wish to eat his lunch as he sat up from his desk to head to the rooftops._

 _But as soon as he sat up, Ash turned to see someone familiar leaving the classroom! Widening his eyes, the younger brother ran after the familiar person, believing he knew that person._

 _But just as he ran out to see where he could've went, the person was nowhere to be seen. The hallways were only filled with teachers and students walking across to get to different places, much to the younger brother's disappointment._

 _Soon, forgetting about the familiar person he thought he had seen, Ash was soon at the rooftop, checking out the view that showed the town and fields. While he was doing that, he was approached by his four classmates with Kaito questioning him._

 _"Checking out the view again?" Kaito called out, causing Ash to turn to his four friends before he nodded back in response._

 _"What's on your mind?" Sorrel asked, causing the younger brother to think before he questioned his friends this time._

 _"Mm... I was just wondering, what's way out there?" Ash asked, causing Sorrel to explain._

 _"Let's see... There are forests, and rivers, and mountains... And there's the next town, too!" Sorrel answered, with the younger brother asking another question._

 _"And past that?" Ash asked, causing Sorrel to answer again._

 _"More forests and rivers, and eventually... You get to the sea." Sorrel answered, making Ash's curiosity rise up once again._

 _"And past that?" Ash asked again, causing Sorrel to be speechless before Luna responded this time._

 _"I'm sure it's the same... Forests, rivers, towns, and the sea... There's nothing much out there except those places." Luna explained, before the younger brother stated his point of what he believed._

 _"The thing is... You never know until you go out there. For me, I want to see what's out there with my own eyes." Ash reminded, before he grinned at the thoughts of him being able to explore around the world._

 _"You mean... on a journey?" Kaito asked, as he felt interested from where Ash was going to._

 _"Sounds like fun! You don't have to worry about school and schedules!" Verity exclaimed, before Sorrel added in more details._

 _"You can see lots of places you never even knew about!" Sorrel added, as all four classmates gained smiles on their faces at the subject the younger brother had brought up from his curiosity._

 _"Mm hm... And at night, I can look at the stars and talk things over with friends I'm traveling with! And as long as my buddy and my brother is with me, I can go anywhere!" Ash assured to himself, catching his classmates' attention._

 _"Your buddy?" Sorrel asked, with Verity asking further._

 _"What buddy?" Verity asked, causing Ash to grin before he tried to explain._

 _"You even have to ask?! My buddy and my big bro's with me all the time!" Ash exclaimed before he widened his eyes at the words he was saying just now._

 _"All... the time..." Ash repeated to himself before Kaito stepped up with a reminder._

 _"Um, Ash... We don't know who this buddy is you're talking about. And about your brother, well.. he..." Kaito started to explain before Luna finished it for him, reminding the younger brother about the devastating fate that happened to his brother._

 _"Your brother is gone, remember? We all heard and saw what happened when your mother started crying. You were crying the most, too..." Luna reminded sadly, causing Ash to widen his eyes as he thought he heard something from his shoulder._

 _"Pika!"_

 _Ash blinked, before he looked to his shoulder to see nothing there. And there was no one else besides him, besides his four classmates that were watching him in worry for what he said just now._

 _"Oh yeah..." Ash stuttered, feeling a tear streaming out of his eyes as Verity pointed it out._

 _"Ash... You're crying." Verity pointed out, causing the younger brother to wipe his tears before any more could fall out._

 _"I-I am...? So...?" Ash grunted, as Luna sighed._

 _"I'm sorry... I never... should've said anything to remind you of your brother." Luna apologized, with Kaito following along._

 _"That goes for me, too. Sorry about mentioning him." Kaito added, causing the younger brother to wipe his eyes before he reassured to them that it was all right._

 _"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have been talking about... huh?" Ash started to reassure until he opened his eyes to see that his four classmates were gone! Looking around to see where they could've went, the younger brother bit his lips._

 _But just as he was about to call for one of them, he heard a familiar voice again._

 _"Pika?"_

 _Ash blinked, before he turned to see a yellow figure that was too blurry for the younger brother to see. At the minute he noticed the yellow figure, it began to run off! Ash widened his eyes as he tried to make a chase after it._

 _"Hey, wait!" Ash called out as he tried to catch up with the yellow figure. The scenery around him changed as the chase went on. The younger brother was continuing the chase in a town as he started to recall of who the yellow figure could've been._

 _"Of course! We used to run like this all the time! But... but... I can't remember who you are! You're my very best friend, but..." Ash panted as he tried to catch up. But as he ran, the scene ahead of him started to collapse!_

 _Widening his eyes, he watched the yellow figure jump down to where there seemed to be nothing under as Ash dove down after it._

 _"DON'T GO!" Ash yelled as he managed to dive down and embrace the falling yellow figure in his arms while he fell as well. As he began to fall, the younger brother shut his eyes tight, until he heard the familiar voice call to him._

 _"Pika Pi!"_

 _Ash opened his eyes, as the colors around him became bright, with the blurry figure becoming quite clear! At the moment he laid eyes on the figure, the younger brother grinned happily in joy as he called out its name._

 _"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed as the two smiled together for their reunion together. But their reunion was cut short when they realized that they were falling towards the grass, causing them to both yell in surprise as they braced themselves for a hard impact!_

 _But as they both shut their eyes tight, nothing came to them! At feeling this, both Ash and Pikachu opened their eyes and looked around, realizing that they had lied on the grassy ground._

 _"What... How?" Ash asked himself, causing the Mouse Pokémon to question on how they were safe, too._

 _Suddenly, as Ash looked around more, he noticed another familiar figure up ahead. The figure was standing on the flowery field, with his back turned against the younger brother. Ash narrowed his eyes as he got closer to take a closer look._

 _Pikachu followed behind him as the two tried to approach the familiar figure. But by the time they got close enough, the younger brother widened his eyes as he knew who this was._

 _"You're...!" Ash started to gasp before the figure tensed, as he seemed to have heard the younger brother's surprised gasp. The figure gave the younger brother a small glance before he turned back to walk off._

 _"Huh...? Hey, wait! Hold on!" Ash called as he and Pikachu tried to run after the figure._

 _The scene around them changed again, with everything turning black except for the white path he and Pikachu were suddenly running on, with the figure being ahead of them._

 _"I said wait!" Ash pleaded as he continued to make chase with Pikachu, who also called out to the familiar figure._

 _"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cried out as the figure kept walking, getting farther and farther away from the younger brother and his Electric Type partner. But while Ash was running, he tripped, causing him to fall onto the path._

 _"Augh!" Ash yelped as Pikachu yelped in surprise before he ran over to his human partner to check on him, while Ash groaned and shook his head. He watched to see the figure getting farther and farther away, much to his dismay._

 _Widening his eyes, the younger brother felt tears welling into his eyes before they streamed down a little, as he desperately called out to the figure disappearing_

 _"Please... Please don't go! BIG BROTHER ISAMU!" Ash yelled as the figure, now known as Isamu, disappeared into the darkness._

 **Isamu's Route...**

 **Dream**

 _Isamu slowly opened his eyes and looked to see that he was in a familiar place._

 _"This place... Isn't this...?" Isamu asked himself as he walked around, immediately recognizing of where this place. The fields, the houses, and the Research Lab was very familiar far ahead as the elder brother frowned._

 _"This is Pallet Town... But how did I get here?" Isamu asked himself. He folded his arms and was about to walk around more, until..._

 _"Huff... huff... Hey! Wait up!" A young, but familiar voice called out._

 _"Too slow, little bro! Try and keep up!" Another familiar voice called out, causing the elder brother to turn and see who was coming. To his shock, it was two boys that looked just like both him and Ash from when they were younger._

 _"Hold on... Is that... Ash? And me?" Isamu asked in disbelief as he watched his younger self and his younger brother running around, both looking like they were in the middle of a race of some sort before they reached to the front door of their home._

 _"Looks like I win again. Come on, what's up with that? You always were right by my side whenever we raced like this." Young Isamu teased Young Ash, causing the younger brother to pout at him before he protested for another race._

 _"Come on! One more! You just got lucky that time!" Young Ash protested, causing the elder brother to smile sheepishly before he pointed to where the sun was setting, causing Isamu himself to turn and see the sunset._

 _"Another time, little bro... Look, the sun is setting. Mom said we always had to be back here before it gets dark." Young Isamu reminded, causing Young Ash to pout before he nodded slowly, giving in to his elder brother's reminder._

 _"Okay..." was all Young Ash said as the brothers headed back into the house, with Isamu watching them head inside._

 _"This is... a memory of me and Ash. But, why am I seeing this?" Isamu asked himself as he held his arms, remembering the hurtful words Ash snapped at him when they separated from each other after their battle with Cross._

 _Suddenly, the scenery around the elder Ketchum brother changed as he recognized the place he was in just now._

 _"This is... our room." Isamu breathed out as he noticed his younger self reading a Pokémon book, with him turning to a page where there was an Eevee. Ash's younger self came into the room, yawning loudly._

 _"Tired, little bro?" Young Isamu asked, causing Young Ash to give a sleepy grin._

 _"Of course I am... We played a lot in the woods, didn't we? Too bad we couldn't catch up to that Poliwag I was hoping to catch." Young Ash chuckled, causing the elder brother to raise an eyebrow before he turned his eyes back on the book._

 _"I'm still surprised that you decided to go after that Pokémon instead of going for other Pokémon. What were you hoping to do if we were to have caught that Poliwag?" Young Isamu asked, allowing the younger brother to explain._

 _"If I can't get any of the starter Pokémon when I reach 10 years old, then I was kinda hoping for Poliwag to be my first Pokémon! It's a Water Type, and can be strong when it's trained right!" Young Ash explained, causing the elder brother to raise an eyebrow._

 _"What Pokémon are you hoping to get if you can't get any of the starters, big bro?" Young Ash asked, causing the elder brother to chuckle before he revealed the page of what he was looking at before the younger brother came in._

 _"Eevee would be my best choice, little bro. See?" Young Isamu asked, as he showed the Evolution Pokémon's page, making the younger brother awed._

 _"Wow... Eevee would be a nice Pokémon, too..." Young Ash admitted, causing the elder brother to smile at his brother's awe before he turned back to his book, until Ash's younger self raised a question to his elder brother._

 _"Hey... Big bro?" Young Ash asked, causing Young Isamu to look up at his younger brother, who climbed onto his bed._

 _"Is it alright... if I sleep with you today?" Young Ash asked, causing Isamu's younger self to blink in both surprise and confusion._

 _"Huh? Sure... but, don't you like your bed?" Young Isamu asked, as Young Ash shook his head._

 _"It's okay, but... I don't feel like going up to get there." Young Ash yawned, causing the younger self of the elder brother to raise an eyebrow before he chuckled out of amusement._

 _"Knock yourself out, little bro." Young Isamu chuckled as he moved a little to let his younger brother lie down on his bed._

 _"Thanks... You're the best, big bro." Young Ash sighed as he made himself comfortable on the bed, before falling asleep. He didn't notice the amused look his elder brother gave him before Young Isamu shook his head with a sheepish smile._

 _"You're such a goofball... You know that, Ash?" Young Isamu asked playfully before he got ready for bed as well._

 _As the scene went on, Isamu felt his heart beating a little as he placed his hand to his chest, where he felt the heartbeat go on._

 _"These memories... Why are they coming back to me all of a sudden...?" Isamu asked again, before the scene around him changed again. This time, the elder brother blinked several times to see where he was, before recognizing the forest where he and Ash used to play when they were young._

 _"This forest... Heh, it reminds me of the time when Ash decided to make this forest a base where we could find Pokémon together." Isamu chuckled, a smile reforming on his face as he noticed his younger self running across the forest with Ash behind him._

 _"Aw, come on! Big bro, slow down a little! You're going too fast!" Young Ash protested, much to Young Isamu's amusement._

 _"Too slow like before, Ash! Come on, you can keep up!" Young Isamu shot back, much to Ash's younger self's annoyance as he tried to pick up the pace to catch up to his elder brother._

 _Soon, the two reached to a big tree where there was a hole inside it, which seemed big enough for the two of them to fit into._

 _"I win again. So, do you have a plan for the next time we have a race, little bro?" Young Isamu asked playfully, causing Ash's younger self to flail around, whining for another loss he had gained today._

 _"Augh! I'll win for sure the next time we race, big bro! Believe it! You can't beat me like this forever, you know!" Young Ash assured loudly, causing the elder brother to laugh a little before he felt something dripping onto his face. Young Ash felt the same way as they watched rain pouring down a little._

 _"Aw, no... You've gotta be kidding me." Isamu grumbled as he pulled Ash into the hole of the tree, with the rain pouring down even harder! The brothers watched the rain pour down, with Isamu watching the scene._

 _Despite of it raining, the elder brother wasn't getting drenched, due to the scene he was seeing right now being a dream._

 _"This is..." Isamu started to say before he listened to Ash's younger self talk with his younger self._

 _"Hey, big bro...?" Young Ash asked, catching Young Isamu's attention as he turned to his younger brother._

 _"What is it?" Young Isamu asked back, before the younger brother explained of what he wanted to say._

 _"You're... going to go on a journey soon, right? I mean... you're a bit older than me, so I guess that would mean you get to go on your journey first before I do." Young Ash started to say before he frowned, catching Young Isamu's attention._

 _"Yeah... I am. What about it?" Young Isamu asked, before he listened to his younger brother._

 _"I... I don't want to sound selfish, but..." Young Ash started to say before he stopped, making the elder brother curious._

 _"But...?" Young Isamu repeated before Ash made his outburst to say his request._

 _"Would you... Would you let me go with you on your journey!? I mean, I know I'm younger than you, so I can make lots of mistakes, but... I... I want to become a Pokémon Master like you! I know this might hold you back, but..." Young Ash started to plead, until Young Isamu stopped him._

 _"Stop, Ash..." Young Isamu said, much to the younger brother's dismay as he stopped himself._

 _"S-Sorry..." Young Ash said, before he looked up to see his elder brother smiling at him brightly, much to the younger brother's confusion._

 _"Don't be so dramatic with your request, little bro... This isn't something you need to ask. Of course I'll let you come with me on your journey! After all, I won't be going unless you become 10." Young Isamu reminded, much to Young Ash's surprise._

 _"B-But...!" Young Ash started to protest until Young Isamu stopped him from protesting._

 _"I know... I'd be leaving when I'm 11. But... I kind of don't care. After all, going on a journey by myself would be kind of, I don't know... boring? Even with my Pokémon, I would also need someone I care for to accompany me while that someone is aiming for his dream, too." Young Isamu explained._

 _Young Ash felt tears welling up in his eyes before he grinned._

 _"Y-You mean it, big bro?" Young Ash asked, causing the elder brother to nod to him._

 _"Of course, Ash. I mean it." Young Isamu assured. But before he could speak further, he felt a force bumping into him, causing the elder brother to blink in surprise before he realized that it was Young Ash hugging him tightly, causing the elder brother to soften up._

 _"Love you, big bro..." Young Ash said softly, causing Young Isamu to smile back._

 _"Love you too, little bro." Young Isamu spoke back in response._

 _Soon, Young Isamu hugged his brother back too, which made Isamu himself to watch with a smile on his face._

 _"That's right... This was the time when I made a promise to travel with Ash together." Isamu spoke to himself before he closed his eyes._

 _"So that's how it is, huh... No matter what he says or what he thinks, I have to accept my responsibility as an older brother and care for him, no matter how hurtful words can be. He's the brother I love, so I should act as the one who actually cares." Isamu spoke to himself._

 _An understanding came to the elder brother's mind as the scene turned dark, before the elder brother felt himself returning to reality._

 **Reality**

 **Ash's Route...**

The younger Ketchum brother gasped as he opened his eyes to escape the nightmare he had, regarding both Pikachu and Isamu. While he panted in relief, he heard someone calling to him in worry.

"Pika Pi? Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, causing the younger Ketchum brother to widen his eyes before he embraced his Electric Type partner.

"Pikachu...? Ah...! Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, much to the Electric Type's surprise as the younger brother admitted his mistake of what he did.

"It was all my fault! I'm sorry... I just... I just...!" Ash stammered, not finding the right words to speak. Sorrel, Verity, Piplup, and Lucario all watched with smiles on their faces, all looking relieved and content to see the two make up with one another.

Verity watched before she noticed to see the Rainbow Wing that was on the younger brother's right before she picked it up, as she presented it to the younger Ketchum brother.

"Look, Ash. Here!" Verity presented, causing the younger brother to take the Rainbow Wing in thanks.

"Oh... Thank you very much." Ash said thankfully, until Verity started to scold him for his actions before.

"Do you know how long we've been looking for you!? Not to mention, that was totally uncalled for to say that to Isamu!" Verity reminded harshly, causing Ash to blink, before he remembered of what he said to Isamu before they separated.

"S-Sorry... Hey, where is big bro, anyway?" Ash asked, causing Sorrel to explain.

"Kaito and Luna went after him in the another direction of the forest here. He looked a little empty after you ran off." Sorrel explained, causing Ash to bite his lips, immediately regretting fully of what he said to the brother he loved.

"Do you honestly think you're going to win every battle? It's the times we lose, that we truly see what a Trainer's made of. But... that's just my opinion." Sorrel spoke out, causing Ash to nod in agreement before he took out Charmeleon's Pokéball.

"Charmeleon... I'm sorry." Ash said apologetically before he looked at his two companions.

"Big bro... I need to go after him. I... I need to tell him that I'm sorry for what I said." Ash explained, his tone sounding troubled until a familiar voice called out to him in response.

"I'm right here, Ash." Isamu called out. The three Trainers and their Pokémon partners all turned to see Kaito, Luna, and Isamu walking up to them with Eevee on the elder Ketchum brother's shoulder.

"Luna! You made it!" Verity exclaimed, with Sorrel nodding to the Alola Trainer, who nodded back.

"Yeah... It's thanks to Kaito's Lycanroc that we were able to find you guys." Luna explained as Isamu stepped up to face his younger brother, who had his face darkened, while his arms and body shook.

"Ash...?" Isamu started to ask, before the younger Ketchum brother rushed into his brother, embracing Isamu tightly.

The others watched in surprise as Isamu widened his eyes, before looking down to see Ash hiding his face into his chest as the embrace tightened. The elder brother listened to Ash, who sounded like he was crying.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry! Big bro... I'm sorry... Please... don't leave me... Please! I won't... say something horrible to you again... I promise!" Ash sobbed, his voice cracking down as he cried onto his elder brother. At the tone Ash was giving off, Isamu narrowed his eyes before a smile rose up on his face.

He embraced Ash back, forgiving the younger brother for his irrational actions and words.

"It's alright, little bro. I forgive you..." Isamu assured softly, before rubbing onto his younger brother's back in comfort. Pikachu and Eevee smiled together, both understanding that the brotherly bond between the two was now fixed.

 **Later...**

After the Ketchum brothers fixed up their brotherly bond, the group made a fire together to set up camp for the night as the younger brother explained about the nightmare he had with no Pokémon involved and with Isamu's death involved as well.

"You forgot that Pokémon even existed!? That had to have been the worst dream ever!" Verity exclaimed in shock, with Kaito frowning.

"And not to mention, Isamu was gone in your nightmare... That had to have made it worse." Kaito added, causing the younger brother to nod grimly while Isamu narrowed his eyes, now understanding of what Ash went through before they reunited together.

Luna held her hands together, disliking the fact about death as it reminded her of the death of her mother when she was born into the world. As for Sorrel, he sat back down next to Lucario, remembering of what was it like for Pokémon to leave him.

"But you know, it's not impossible for Pokémon to leave us." Sorrel spoke out, catching everyone's attention as he explained.

"When I was young, my parents were more away at work than in home. My family had a Luxray, who took care of me. It was always with me." Sorrel explained, allowing Kaito and Verity to recognize the name of the Pokémon.

Ash, Luna, and Isamu just listened as their companion went on with his past life, with how Pokémon had left him during that time.

"But then... there was that one awful day when I went out alone." Sorrel explained, as he recalled of the traumatic past he had to endure and face.

 **Flashback**

 _Young Sorrel was lying in the snow, hurt from what he had to feel when he tried to snowboard alone. The young boy lied on the snow, feeling the cold from the blizzard that was occurring while he lied, unable to move._

 _Just as he thought this might be it for him, he heard a howl from not too far. Weakly opening his eyes, Young Sorrel slowly turned his head to see a familiar figure running to his way!_

 _He blinked, recognizing it... as Luxray! The Gleam Eyes Pokémon sniffed over the young boy in worry, before he curled up and pulled Young Sorrel close to him, allowing Young Sorrel to be more safer from the harsh blizzard._

 _"Luxray..." Young Sorrel breathed out, which Luxray heard, who smiled at the young boy being safe now._

 _However..._

 _As morning arose with the blizzard over, Young Sorrel slowly opened his eyes before he widened them in shock as he rose up from the snowy ground. Luxray wasn't moving... his whole body looked frozen while he smiled._

 _The young boy twitched his eyes in disbelief before he shook his head, not wanting to believe what happened to his good Pokémon friend._

 _The Gleam Eyes Pokémon... had froze to death._

 _It all came slowly to Young Sorrel, who still didn't want to believe it. He tried waking his Electric Type friend up, but it didn't work as Luxray didn't move an inch. There was not even a twitch, which made the young boy fear the worst._

 _But by the time he continued to try and awaken his frozen friend, three men approached him and the frozen Pokémon. They were sent to rescue Young Sorrel as one of the men scooped him up into his arms, despite of Young Sorrel's protest._

 _"Luxray...! Ah... Luxray! LUXRAY!" Young Sorrel yelled, crying for the friend he had lost, due to his reckless mistake._

 **Flashback End**

Sorrel narrowed his eyes as he finished the tragic tale of what happened to his first Pokémon friend. By the time he was finished, Isamu and Ash were speechless, as they didn't know how to respond to such a sad story.

Verity just eyed Sorrel worriedly while Kaito looked down. Luna on the other hand, felt tears welling up as she felt sorry for her companion.

"Oh... Sorrel... I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Luna said, causing Sorrel to shake his head in reassurance.

"Don't be, Luna. It was my decision to tell you all this story. But... after that, I was afraid to make friends with Pokémon for a very long time." Sorrel admitted, causing Kaito to question him on how Lucario was with him, then.

"So how is Lucario with you then, if you went over a traumatic time?" Kaito asked, allowing Sorrel to explain.

"Well... the only thing that snapped me out of my trauma, was when I had met Lucario." Sorrel explained, causing the others to smile in relief.

"Awesome..." Ash breathed out, as Pikachu spoke his agreement.

"That's a relief." Isamu pointed out, causing Sorrel to agree while Eevee just cooed with a smile. Luna took out Arcanine's Pokéball, as she remembered for the years they've spent together ever since she left the man that was her former father.

Verity just rubbed Piplup's head, as the Penguin Pokémon had called up to her.

Just then, as the six Trainers were recalling their partners, both Pikachu and Eevee felt a presence from behind them! They both turned to see a dark Pokémon from the shadows! As soon as both Isamu and Ash turned, the shadow disappeared with Pikachu slamming onto the tree in an attempt to try and catch it!

"What was that!?" Ash exclaimed in surprise.

"A Pokémon?" Verity questioned until Pikachu shocked where the shadow was with Thunderbolt! Eevee followed with a Shadow Ball as the combined attacks didn't just shock one tree, but it affected many trees around the group!

The combined moves attracted angry Pokémon, as lots of them yelled angrily before they surrounded the group.

"They're Primeape! Once they're angry, there's no calming them down!" Sorrel warned as the group found themselves being approached by the angry Fighting Types. Soon, they were lifted up in the air by the Primeape before they were thrown up high!

The six Trainers and the Pokémon all yelled in surprise as they felt themselves being thrown into the air repeatedly, with no time to rest or to react to the behavior being directed towards them.

"AH! What's going on!?" Verity shrieked as Kaito looked down to see how enraged the Primeape were.

"It must be because of Pikachu's Thunderbolt and Eevee's Shadow Ball hitting all the trees! This must be their territory!" Kaito grunted as Sorrel called to Ash of who they need for this to stop.

"Ash, we need Metapod!" Sorrel called out, much to the younger brother's confusion.

"But why!?" Ash exclaimed as Isamu gave the answer.

"Sorrel's right! If we try to fight back, they'll only get more angrier! And I don't think we'd want to see what would happen if they get even angrier than they are now!" Isamu explained, allowing the younger brother to understand the situation.

"Right!" Ash grunted as he managed to get out of the Primeape group's tossing before he sent out his evolved Bug Type to bind them!

"Metapod, use String Shot!" Ash called out as he ran around the Primeape while holding his Bug Type. Wasting no time, the evolved Bug Type shot the sticky string to bind the Primeape group as Ash ran around them!

Eventually, with enough string, the Primeape were no longer tossing the others around, which allowed them to take the time to escape.

"Come on, Primeape! Don't be so mad!" Verity called out as she and the others ran to make their escape. As they were running, the younger brother praised his Bug Type for his well done effort.

"Metapod, you were awesome!" Ash praised, until Metapod began to glow! Everyone watched to see their Bug Type friend proceed through his evolution before he evolved... into a Butterfree!

"It evolved into a Butterfree!" Ash exclaimed in awe. The others were amazed by this too, until the Primeape group broke free from the String Shot they were trapped in! Seeing their enemies escaping, the group began to make chase with Luna pointing it out.

"Oh no! They broke free of the String Shot! They're chasing after us again!" Luna shrieked, causing the others to notice as Ash turned to his newly evolved Bug-Flying Type to use his new abilities to immobilize the Fighting Types once more.

"Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!" Ash shouted out. Crying out in affirmation, Butterfree flew over to where the Primeape group were before he began to spread powder that began to make the group drowsy!

Eventually, the Sleep Powder did its magic and knocked the angry Fighting Types out, as Butterfree flew over to his Trainer.

"Butterfree, you're the best!"

"Pika Pika!" Ash praised while Pikachu agreed happily.

"Now's our chance!" Sorrel called out as he and Lucario took the lead by running off, followed by Sorrel, Piplup, Kaito, and Luna! The Ketchum brothers immediately followed after Butterfree caught up to them, as they made their escape from the now asleep Primeape group.

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights**

 **Chapter 8: The Bond to Make a Miracle**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash dreams of a world with Pokémon and Isamu not existing

\- Isamu recalls of his past cherished memories about him and Ash

\- Isamu and Ash rekindles their brotherly bond

\- Ash's Metapod evolves into a Butterfree


	6. Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!

**Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!**

 **Ash's POV**

Last chapter, I didn't know what I was thinking when I snapped at big bro Isamu on saying that I wished he was never my brother. I couldn't think or speak properly... I was so blinded by my anger, especially since I had lost to Cross.

Losing really stunk, but losing to someone who thinks of Pokémon as tools instead of friends, it really bit me hard! Yet... I knew that what I was doing was wrong, since my heart felt like it was turning dark by my anger and when I brushed the others aside.

I didn't know what to think anymore... until I dreamt of a horrible nightmare. Sorrel, Kaito, Luna, and Verity were all there, yet big bro Isamu didn't exist because... he was already dead.

Pokémon didn't exist there, either... But at seeing Pikachu in the dream, I was able to remember what I cherished the most... And what was more important than just winning a battle. That was the tough lesson I learned from that nightmare.

In the end, I was able to reconcile with my big bro and rekindle our bond, along with rekindling my bond with Pikachu and the others. Of course, things started to go a little wild when we accidentally crossed a group of wild Primeape.

But thankfully, we were able to escape thanks to my Metapod evolving into a Butterfree! Things sure looked a lot better now that Butterfree evolved and helped us with the problem we managed to escape from!

 **End POV**

* * *

The six Trainers all ran far from where the Primeape were at as they came to another obstacle that was in their way.

"It's a river..." Kaito pointed until Verity smirked, taking out another Pokéball that could help her and the others out.

"We'll take care of this! It's your turn now, Lapras!" Verity called out, as she kissed the Pokéball before throwing it in the air to summon the Transport Pokémon! The Water-Ice Type lands on the water, ready to help its Trainer and her friends out.

The others were surprised at this at first, before they all smiled together. Now they could cross the river without any problem! So without any delay, the six Trainers got onto Lapras while Eevee, Piplup, and Pikachu got on top of Lapras' head!

Buizel swam besides the group while Butterfree flew next to his friends.

With that being done, the rest of the small river trip was done with no problem as the night went on.

* * *

 **The next morning...**

The group were continuing on their way to the mountain ranges where Ho-Oh would be waiting for them. But while they were getting there, Pikachu, Eevee, Piplup, and Buizel all hear a frantic screech!

Everyone turned their attention to where the screech was coming from, as they all turned to see a wild Fearow angrily chasing a wild Butterfree that seemed to be in a different color!

"That Butterfree is in trouble!" Sorrel pointed out, causing Ash to take action.

"Right! Butterfree, I choose you!" Ash shouted out, allowing his evolved Bug-Flying Type to interfere with the Fearow and knock it back! The two Pokémon glare at each other while the different colored Butterfree watched in worry.

The wild Fearow attempted to strike the younger Ketchum brother's Butterfree, only for him to dodge without any problem. Then, just when it looked like the evolved Flying Type would attack again...

"Now Butterfree! Use Gust!" Ash shouted out.

With a strong wind of Gust, the Bug-Flying Type was able to blast Fearow away far enough to make the evolved Flying Type fly away in annoyance. By the time it was gone, Butterfree let out a grunt of confidence.

And with the threat going away, the different colored Butterfree flew over to approach Ash's Butterfree. The two looked at each other in the eye, as the different colored one was amazed with the power Ash's Butterfree had.

That made the younger brother's Bug-Flying Type feel a bit timid as he turned away before looking at the female that was amazed by his power. The other Pokémon that watched were amazed on how well their friend has chased Fearow away!

Even Ash and Luna seemed impressed with how well Butterfree performed just now.

"Awesome!"

"That was amazing...!"

The two expressed their amazement until Sorrel pointed out something the others didn't seem to notice yet.

"That Butterfree... It has a different coloring..." Sorrel pointed out, causing Verity to grin at the sight of her pink coloring.

"It's so cute!" Verity commented happily as Kaito smiled in understanding. The different colored one did look cute in the Alola boy's opinion. And with the way the two interacted with one another, it allowed the girls to realize one thing.

"I think... Luna, do you think that Butterfree is...?" Verity started, with Luna coming up with the same conclusion.

"I think so, too! That Butterfree must be a girl, right?" Luna asked, causing Sorrel to nod in agreement.

"That's right." was all Sorrel needed to say while Isamu and Kaito smiled in amusement. Ash on the other hand, blinked in confusion before he turned back to see his Bug-Flying Type bond with the different colored one.

"Yeah...?" Ash asked, his smile returning as the group and their Pokémon friends watched the two Butterfree fly together, as if they had already come close with one another. The elder Ketchum brother smiled at the scene.

 _"So the different colored one has fallen in love with little bro's Butterfree, huh? It's like a princess falling in love with the hero that saved her life."_ Isamu thought before he gave a small chuckle to that thought.

"What is it, big bro?" Ash asked, causing the elder brother to shake his head.

"Oh... It's nothing, little bro. Nothing to worry about." Isamu spoke in reassurance, much to his little brother's confusion.

"Okay...?" was all Ash could say, as he didn't know how to put the elder brother's brief words of reassurance.

* * *

 **Later...**

As the six Trainers walked across the forest, they all saw an opening of a way out as they all ran towards the opening... only to see... a great sight to see in front of them! They then turned their attention to where there was a mountain range!

Sorrel smiled as he checked it on his pad to show the others on what that range was.

"There... The source of the rainbow! The Raizen Mountains!" Sorrel pointed out, causing the others to be awed by the sight of it. It was at that moment when the Rainbow Wing inside Ash's jacket began to glow!

Noticing it glowing, the younger Ketchum brother brought it out for the others to see as the Rainbow Wing began to glow brightly! The others watched in awe as the Wing formed a rainbow to where it landed on one mountain range.

"That's the highest mountain in the range! Mt. Tensei!" Sorrel pointed out, causing the girls to realize what this meant.

"You mean we're going to the highest mountain to meet where Ho-Oh could be at...?" Luna asked, causing Isamu to smile at the question.

"It looks like it... We'll all be able to meet Ho-Oh there since Ash and I were chosen by it itself... Because of the Rainbow Wing." Isamu pointed out, remembering the time when Ho-Oh flew over both him and his little brother.

"Yeah... We'll meet Ho-Oh real soon! Pikachu! Let's go!" Ash called out, causing his Electric Type partner to nod and follow his human partner.

"Ash! Hold on!" Verity called out as the others ran after the younger Ketchum brother until the elder Ketchum brother ran alongside with his younger brother.

"Slow down there, Ash. You don't have to run all the way ahead of us, you know?" Isamu reminded, only for the younger brother to grin sheepishly and explain.

"Heh heh! Sorry, bro! I just can't wait to meet Ho-Oh again! After all, Ho-Oh was the one who gave us this Rainbow Wing, right...? We're the Rainbow Heroes... the ones that Ho-Oh chose...!" Ash reminded, causing the elder brother to smile back in understanding.

"Yeah... You're right. Then I guess this is the more reason why we need to hurry, then..." Isamu smirked.

"Yep! Race you there, big bro!" Ash grunted as he ran ahead, causing Isamu to run after him as the two brothers kept running with their companions running behind them.

* * *

 **Later...**

The sun was setting by the time the other Trainers caught up to the Ketchum brothers. The group continued their way to the mountain range, until they came across a sight to behold. Around them... were lots and lots of Butterfree flying together!

"Whoa..." Luna breathed out in awe as Verity grinned at the sight.

"Whoa! Look at all the Butterfree!" Verity pointed out, giving the younger Ketchum brother the idea to send out his own Butterfree.

"All right... Time for you to come out!" Ash called out, as he sent out the Bug-Flying Type out to join the group. The younger brother's Butterfree looked around in both curiosity and awe to see how many of the same species there are like him.

Just then, a different colored Butterfree flew over and greeted Ash's Butterfree, causing the two to have a nice reunion together! The human Trainers took notice of this as Kaito was the first to point it out.

"Look at that... Isn't that Butterfree the one your Butterfree saved, Ash?" Kaito asked, allowing the younger Ketchum brother to see and nod in agreement.

"It sure is!" Ash agreed, which was when Sorrel raised a point of what the Butterfree all do at this point.

"This is the season where all Butterfree gather in groups and head south to their spawning grounds." Sorrel stated, much to Ash's amazement. As the younger brother watched, his elder brother pointed out to where his Bug-Flying Type was.

"Look, little bro... Your Butterfree is already joining the group with the different colored one. See?" Isamu pointed out, allowing the younger brother to see where his Bug-Flying Type friend was.

"That's the Butterfree courtship dance, right? As a sign of showing their love to one another." Kaito questioned, earning a nod from Sorrel.

"Yeah... That's right. I'd say that they both agree." Sorrel agreed as the younger brother grinned at his friend enjoying his time with the female Pokémon.

"Good for you, Butterfree!" Ash exclaimed until Verity and Luna realized something. They looked at each other before they turned to their Kanto friend with a reminder of what Butterfree has to do then.

"Ash... You do realize that if Butterfree flies off into the south with his friend, then... It means goodbye to Butterfree." Luna reminded sadly, causing the younger brother to widen his eyes in surprise!

Verity, Kaito, Isamu, and Sorrel all frowned at knowing what this meant for the younger brother.

The sun had begun to set even further as the group remained silent while Ash frowned in concern.

"But... that's not what I want to happen... Butterfree is one of my good friends..." Ash breathed out in disbelief, not wanting to believe on what's about to happen. Isamu frowned, before he tried to comfort his younger brother.

"Ash..." Isamu started as he placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder, causing the younger brother to look at him.

"Butterfree may be your Pokémon, but you also need to respect a Pokémon's decision to stay or to leave. If you try to force Butterfree to stay then, well... I just... don't want to think of what might happen between the two of you." Isamu frowned.

"But... But big bro... I don't want to say goodbye... No way..." Ash breathed out, his tone sounding a little broken as the others frowned.

"Yeah... I hear you..." was all Verity could say in agreement.

"I wouldn't want to say goodbye to the Pokémon I made friends with, either." Luna admitted as she rubbed her Arcanine's head, who nuzzled her back, along with a low growl of comfort.

Kaito didn't say anything as he rubbed Buizel's head, who had climbed onto his human brother's shoulder. Sorrel and Lucario just watched before Sorrel reminded the younger brother that it was his decision in the end.

"It's your choice. Isamu may be right about the part about forcing a Pokémon to stay, but... what do you say?" Sorrel asked, causing the younger brother to bite his lips. Before Isamu could speak, everyone heard a familiar cry from Butterfree!

"Free Free!"

The younger Ketchum brother looked up to see his Butterfree flying down towards them with the different colored one following. Ash frowned sadly, before greeting his evolved Bug-Flying Type friend.

"Hi... So... what do you think you really want to do?" Ash asked, causing Butterfree to give a questioning cry back.

"Do you really want to go with the rest of the Butterfree... and say goodbye to all of us?" Ash asked.

The others watched as Butterfree turned to its female friend, who kept watching patiently to see what her friend's decision was. The evolved Bug-Flying Type friend turned back to the others.

Then with a sad cry, the male Butterfree flew over to Ash and hid behind the younger brother, causing the different colored Butterfree to watch sadly, wondering if her friend had made his decision or not.

"Ash..." Isamu whispered out as Ash looked at the sad looking Butterfree, before looking back at his Butterfree. Darkening his face for a moment, the younger brother made his decision with a brave expression on his face.

"You should go with your friend." Ash declared, catching both Butterfree by surprise. The others looked a little surprised too while the elder Ketchum brother smiled proudly for the right decision Ash has made.

Taking Butterfree's small hand, the younger brother urged his friend to go with the different colored one.

"Hurry up! If you don't go, you both will get left behind! You're both... really great Butterfree! So take care of each other!" Ash called out. His tone sounded like he was cracking, but he remained strong.

The female Butterfree nodded sadly in understanding, realizing how her friend was feeling. Ash's Butterfree on the other hand, gave a sad cry as Pikachu climbed up onto his shoulder, saying a sad goodbye to his friend.

The same went for Eevee, as she climbed up onto the elder Ketchum brother's shoulder to express her sad goodbye to her friend.

"Pika!"

"Vee! Eevee!"

The two cried out, causing Butterfree to give a weak cry of sadness. Everyone could notice tears welling up in his eyes. Buizel and Piplup looked like they were going to cry too, causing Kaito and Verity to pick them up and hold them in their arms.

Lucario and Arcanine just closed their eyes, feeling sympathy for the ones that were feeling upset about the Bug-Flying Type's departure.

Soon, the two began to fly away to join up with the other Butterfree as the six Trainers and their Pokémon said their goodbyes to the Bug-Flying Type.

"You two take good care of yourselves!" Verity called out.

"Now you two be careful out there!" Sorrel added.

"Take care of each other and don't run into any problems, okay?" Kaito shouted out, with Luna adding in her final words for the two Butterfree.

"Love each other as always, okay?" Luna called, before the Ketchum brothers were ready to shout out their final words.

"Pika Pika!"

"Eevee! Vee!"

The two starters cried out their goodbye as well with tears streaming down from their eyes. Isamu had the tears welling up while Ash already had tears flowing out of his eyes now, while trying to smile at the same time.

"BUTTERFREE! Take care of yourself!"

"Look after each other... Make new memories with each and remember us as well, okay!?"

The Ketchum brothers yelled out their final words for their Bug-Flying Type friend as they watched with the others to see the two Butterfree fly far away from where they were standing.

Soon, the two were shrinking away from their eyes, until the six Trainers and their Pokémon friends couldn't see them anymore. By the time they were finally gone, the sun had finally set down, now turning to night.

"They're gone..." Verity breathed out, causing Ash to give a silent "Yeah".

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu turned to his human partner, who hid his eyes with his cap before the younger brother looked up with a weak smile on his face.

"But you know... I'm really glad I met Butterfree... True, it's not here. But we'll always be good friends." Ash assured softly, earning a happy "Pika" from his Electric Type partner.

"I'm proud of ya, little bro. You handled it great just now..." Isamu admitted proudly, causing his younger brother to grin back sheepishly as Sorrel smiled, before he closed his eyes as he spoke.

"One thing's for sure... Trainers raise Pokémon, but... Pokémon live their own lives." Sorrel stated, as he looked out to the valley that was darkened by the now night sky. Kaito blinked, before smiling a little in agreement.

Just as the group felt like they were about to relax, Pikachu began to spark, much to the Mouse Pokémon's surprise! The group blinked in surprise before they all turned to see behind them... was none other than...

"Is that... Raikou!?" Kaito gasped, causing the others to take notice of the third member of the Legendary Beast trio. The Electric Type glared down at them sharply before letting out a loud roar.

Electricity struck everywhere around the Legendary Beast, causing everyone to cover their eyes to prevent themselves from getting blinded by the bright light! The moment it died away and everyone opened their eyes again...

"H-Huh? Raikou... It's gone." Luna pointed out, allowing everyone to see that Raikou was no longer in their sights.

"I guess... we've seen them all now... Entei... Suicune... and Raikou..." Kaito breathed out with Buizel giving an awed, silent cry.

* * *

 **Later...**

With Butterfree no longer in their group, the six Trainers and their Pokémon friends continued to make their way to where Mt. Tensei was, as they managed to get onto the mountain range to reach their destination.

But while they were walking through the rocky path, they all took notice of the wild Pokémon looking down at them. They didn't look pleased, yet they didn't seem to be quite hostile as well. But it wasn't a warm welcome to them.

"It looks like something's made the wild Pokémon upset..." Verity commented, with Ash and Kaito giving out a silent agreement.

"Did something happen here in the mountain ranges...?" Kaito asked until a voice answered their question out of nowhere.

"It's Ho-Oh. All of them gather here. All of these wild Pokémon want to receive power from Ho-Oh." An old man explained. Up above the group, seemed to be an old man that seemed to be an old traveler or hiker of some sort.

He jumped down to meet the group, catching the six Trainers and their Pokémon friends by surprise! Arcanine looked like he wanted to growl at the man for the surprise arrival, until Luna managed to calm him down.

As soon as the man landed down, he began to sniff around before he spoke.

"It's faint... but I'm catching a whiff of Ho-Oh..." The old man stated, catching the Ketchum brothers by surprise.

"Really...? Just by smelling...?" Isamu asked weirdly with a frown, until the younger brother took out the Rainbow Wing from his jacket pocket.

"Hey... Could it be this...?" Ash asked, causing the man to turn and see the Rainbow Wing that the younger Ketchum brother had in his hand.

"OH! It's the Rainbow Wing..." The old man gasped in awe, causing the others to be a little surprised at his knowledge of it.

"You know of it?" Verity asked, until Sorrel widened his eyes, sounding as if he had recognized the man just now.

"HEY! I know you! You were on the book! Uh... what was your name..." Sorrel started to say before he frowned, struggling to remember the name of the man he had seen from the Pokémon Center's library.

The man gave a small chuckle before he rubbed his white beard.

"Why don't you just call me Bonji?" The old man, now known as Bonji chuckled before he explained.

"For the past 20 years, I've been on a quest, searching for Ho-Oh! It's part of my research!" Bonji explained, much to the girls' awe.

"20 years...?" Verity repeated in awe.

"And yet you're still going on... trying to find the Legendary Pokémon..." Luna pointed out in awe as the man chuckled before he continued to explain.

"You see, I've pulled data from many places! Which led me to this mountain, where Ho-Oh's next appearance!" Bonji explained, allowing Verity to make a suggestion for all of them to do when they reach Mt. Tensei.

"Then let's all go together!" Verity suggested, with Ash and Luna agreeing with the idea.

"Yeah... We're on our way to see Ho-Oh as well!" Ash explained, with Pikachu crying out his agreement. Bonji blinked, before he took a quick look at Pikachu and Eevee, before he looked back at the Ketchum brothers.

"All right... That shine is the shine of youth! Ah... How I've missed it! It's almost too beautiful for me to look upon!" Bonji chuckled happily.

Soon, the group started to walk with Bonji to where the top of Mt. Tensei was as the old man spoke of how the group were able to meet the three Legendary beasts.

"It's probably thanks in large part to the Rainbow Wing that you were able to come across Entei, Suicune, and Raikou!" Bonji stated, catching the group by surprise before Isamu realized on why that is.

"The Rainbow Wing... Could it be because those three were reborn thanks to Ho-Oh using its powers to resurrect them...?" Isamu asked, earning a chuckle and a nod from the old man.

"Precisely! As for the Rainbow Wing, Ho-Oh wants to know if there is a young person or two that can be suited as the Rainbow Hero or Heroes." Bonji explained, much to the younger brother's awe.

"You mean me and big bro?" Ash asked, before Bonji continued on.

"That means you two may have someone guiding you! A guide from the shadows. Have you noticed anything?" Bonji asked, causing Isamu to frown. He didn't know of a Pokémon coming from the shadows, until...

"Ah! From the shadows...? Wait, yeah... There was something." Ash admitted, causing the elder brother to blink his eyes.

"A Pokémon from the shadows... Could it be that same Pokémon we saw back when we reunited with one another... after our battle with Cross near the Pokémon Center?" Isamu asked, causing the others to realize on what Isamu was talking about.

"Oh yeah... Before we accidentally woken up a group of Primeape... There was a Pokémon that was on the dark shadows..." Kaito agreed, remembering of the past events that occurred a few days ago.

The younger Ketchum brother blinked before he looked at his shadow, while Pikachu and Eevee sniffed on the ground cautiously to see whether the mysterious Pokémon they've seen before would show up again.

"I wonder if it's still there..." Ash wondered until Bonji spoke up again.

"I suspect that it's the extremely rare Pokémon... Marshadow." Bonji guessed, catching the group's attention.

"Marshadow...?" Luna repeated in confusion before Bonji explained.

"Yes... They say it's a guide from the shadows. When the color of the rainbow fades, Marshadow seals it back up and makes it right." Bonji explained. By the time his explanation was done, the fog began clearing away.

The sun shone in the sky as the Rainbow Wing inside Ash's jacket pocket began to glow! As it cleared away, the girls took notice of the summit in Mt. Tensei that was just ahead of them!

"There's the summit!" Verity pointed out happily.

"The Rainbow Wing!" Sorrel reminded, causing the younger brother to bring out the feather and point it to where the summit was. The light emitted from the Rainbow Wing before the light hit some sort of a crystal that seemed to be where the Wing needed to be placed.

As it hit the crystal, the light spread across the summit, causing the summit to glow a little for the humans and their Pokémon friends to see.

"When a Rainbow Flower blooms on Rainbow Rock, Ho-Oh shall appear!" Bonji explained.

At the sight of the Rainbow Flower up ahead on the Rainbow Rock, the younger Ketchum gritted his teeth with excitement as he called to his Electric Type partner to move so they could see the Legendary Pokémon together.

"Well, I can't just stand here waiting! Let's go, buddy!" Ash called out, causing Pikachu, Piplup, Eevee, and Buizel to follow!

"Hey! Wait for us!" Verity called out as Isamu smiled.

 _"So this is our chance to finally reunite with Ho-Oh after all this time, huh..."_ Isamu thought as the six Trainers all began to run across the mountain path, causing Bonji to chuckle a little.

"Ha ha... Time flies and rainbows quickly vanish! Yes, young ones! Hurry!" Bonji cried happily as he ran after the six Trainers.

* * *

 **Later...**

By the time the group and Bonji arrived to where the Rainbow Rock, Kaito glanced around, taking notice of the wild Pokémon that seemed to be all around him and the others as he frowned.

"Those wild Pokémon really must want to see Ho-Oh..." Kaito pointed out, causing Luna to take notice of the wild Pokémon as well.

"Yeah, you're right..." Luna breathed out as Isamu turned to where the rock was. He stood with his younger brother as Sorrel took notice of the rock that seemed to where the Wing needs to be placed.

"That's where you should place the Rainbow Wing." Sorrel pointed out, causing Ash to take it out before he grinned at his elder brother.

"Ready, big bro...?" Ash asked, earning a nod from Isamu.

"Yeah... Let's place it together." Isamu suggested, causing the younger brother to nod before the two brothers started to head for the rock, with Pikachu and Eevee by their side! But just as they were approaching the rock...

"RAR!"

"Ash! Isamu! ABOVE YOU!" Kaito yelled, causing the Ketchum brothers to look up and see Incineroar attempting to strike them with Throat Chop! Taking quick action, Isamu grabbed Ash and got him and himself out of the way!

Eevee did the same with Pikachu as the brothers and their starter Pokémon got out of the way safely to not get hurt. The others watched in surprise as they ran over to help the brothers up when they saw...

"So it's you, Cross!" Kaito snapped, as he glared to see his bitter rival appearing out of his hiding with Lycanroc and Incineroar by his side.

"Cross...!? What's going on...!?" Ash gaped in disbelief as the heartless Trainer glared at the group.

"I'll take that. The Trainer who battles Ho-Oh is the strongest, and that Trainer is me!" Cross declared, causing the group to glare at him.

"That's not how it works!" Sorrel protested, with Luna and Verity adding in their agreement.

"Now, look! The ones who gets to battle Ho-Oh are the chosen ones! The Rainbow Heroes!" Verity declared, with Luna adding in her words.

"That's right! Someone like you doesn't have the right to battle a Legendary Pokémon, especially with how you treat Pokémon!" Luna snapped, causing Cross to scoff and shrug off their argument easily.

"You're too soft. Remember, might makes right. And that's it..." Cross spoke darkly, causing Ash to glare back.

"So what about the weak, then...?" Ash asked cautiously, causing Cross to immediately respond with...

"They're trash!"

"And the people who can't fight back or lose!?" Isamu added, only to get a worse response.

"Worse than trash!"

Those responses were enough to get the group to glare at the heartless Trainer as the brothers looked ready to fight back, this time to win and to prove that their training methods were more correct.

"There's no way we can afford to let you win this!" Ash snapped, until the Rainbow Wing began to glow. As it glowed brightly, a familiar figure came out from the shadows, catching everyone's attention!

Kaito immediately recognized it as he called out the name of the familiar figure.

"It's Marshadow..." Kaito pointed out, with Sorrel recognizing it as well.

"That's the Pokémon we saw that night..." Sorrel pointed out, as the girls smiled at how small and nice it looked to them.

"Marshadow is so cute...!" Verity giggled, causing Isamu to frown a little.

"Marshadow... So this must be the guide that Bonji was talking about earlier... The guide from the shadows..." Isamu pointed out as Cross narrowed his eyes with a small smirk.

"That's the guide from the shadows? Wow..." Cross breathed out as everyone watched to see the guide from the shadows jump onto a rock and watch of what's about to occur. Bonji comes over, explaining about Marshadow's role.

"Marshadow... Its only purpose is to observe the proceedings..." Bonji explained, causing the group to turn to the old man.

"Bonji...?" Verity asked as the younger brother turned back to the guide from the shadows. He frowned, before he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He turned to where Isamu stood with a serious expression on his face.

"Let's go, little bro..." Isamu started, causing the younger brother to blink before he nodded in agreement.

Placing the Rainbow Wing back inside his pocket, the younger brother got ready to face the heartless Trainer with Isamu by his side. The two brothers took out their Pokéballs and got ready for battle.

"Charmeleon, I choose you!"

"Dragonair, take the field!"

The two evolved Pokémon appeared on the field, both ready to battle as Cross started it off with Lycanroc and Incineroar!

 **Ash / Isamu: Charmeleon / Dragonair VS Cross: Incineroar / Lycanroc**

"Use Flamethrower and Crush Claw!"

The orders were enough to let Lycanroc charge towards Dragonair while Incineroar blasted the flames to where Charmeleon was! Immediately, the Ketchum brothers took action to counter the attacks back.

"Dragon Tail, Dragonair!"

"Charge, Charmeleon!"

Charmeleon ran, managing to dodge the incoming Flamethrower attack before getting ready to counter back! As for Dragonair, he blocked the Crush Claw attack with Dragon Tail, before he slammed Lycanroc back!

"Charmeleon, now use Slash!" Ash shouted out.

Using his speed and power, the evolved Fire Type slashed Incineroar across the chest, enough to make the Heel Pokémon wince and growl in pain from the Slash attack he had taken just now.

"Perfect!" Verity commented happily.

"They got the first blow done..." Kaito pointed out, until Cross scoffed as he ordered another counterattack!

"Throat Chop, go! And you use Stone Edge!"

Incineroar lunged at Charmeleon, who dodged the first strike, before dodging another one! Flipping in the air, the evolved Fire Type landed on the ground to prepare for another counterattack.

As for Dragonair, he dodged the sharp stones with his speed and with his movements. Joining Charmeleon's side, the Ketchum brothers called for another counterattack to counter their opponents' moves!

"Use Slash again!"

"Counter Stone Edge with Dragon Pulse!"

The two Fire Types met their attacks together and struggled to overpower one another. For Dragonair and Lycanroc, the two attacks met, resulting in a tie as neither attack seemed to have overpowered the other's attack.

But just when it seemed like both sides were even, Cross quickly took the chance to call for another attack!

"Use Flamethrower!"

Flamethrower was shot at close range as the Lizard Pokémon struggled to fight the heavy firepower!

"Charmeleon!?" Ash gasped as Isamu gritted his teeth before he called for Dragonair to lend some assistance.

"Use Dragon Tail, Dragonair!"

"I don't think so! Lycanroc, Crush Claw!"

Dragonair's attempt to rescue his friend was intervened by the Wolf Pokémon, who blocked his Dragon Tail with Crush Claw, much to the Dragon Pokémon's irritation as the two clashed together with their physical attacks.

For the Lizard Pokémon, he continued to struggle to fight against Flamethrower until his tail flame started to burn even hotter! The younger brother took notice of this before the Lizard Pokémon began to glow brightly!

The same went for Dragonair, who began to glow in the same light that Charmeleon was in! Everyone watched in shock to see the two evolved Pokémon beginning to change, which could only mean that...

"They're both evolving again... to a new powerful form..." Luna breathed out as she and the others watched the evolution take place. Wings sprouted from the evolving Fire Type's back and his body grew even larger!

Dragonair's body changed as his face and body began to change, along with the tail! The horn on his head looked a little stronger as the evolution was soon complete. Both boys were in awe of what their Pokémon has become now.

"You've evolved into a Charizard!"

"You've evolved into a Dragonite!"

"Pika Pika!"

"Vee! Eevee!"

At the evolution being done, both boys smirk together as they knew that with their Pokémon's power going up, things were about to change for them, which would be good. Cross on the other hand, would soon be engulfed by their great power together as the battle goes on.

To be continued...

* * *

 **Next chapters:**

 **Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights**

 **Chapter 8: The Bond to Make a Miracle**

 **Events that occurred:**

\- Ash releases Butterfree to let him be with his mate

\- The group encounters Raikou briefly

\- The group meets Bonji

\- Cross challenges both Isamu and Ash again for the Rainbow Wing

\- Charmeleon and Dragonair evolves into Charizard and Dragonite


End file.
